Scattered
by loveadubdub
Summary: It started out as a joke. They were drunk, like really drunk, all three of them. Brittany brought it up, and they all laughed about it because apparently babies are really funny when you're wasted. But it was just a joke, right? So why is there an ovulation test on the kitchen counter? ... Bramtana, sequel to Complicated
1. Chapter 1

**SCATTERED**

**Part 4**

…

Santana starts gaining weight, and it's not fun for anybody.

She starts crying one morning because her jeans won't button, and Sam makes the mistake of telling her to "just buy new jeans." That's apparently a very wrong thing to say or something because she goes crazy on him and tells him that he's an asshole, a bastard, and a "fucking shitfuck assface" all in one breath.

So after that, he stops suggesting new clothes.

Every time she goes to the doctor, she comes out more and more depressed because apparently gaining any kind of weight is terrible, despite the fact that she's like literally growing a human being inside of her. He still likes going with her, though, even though she's always pissed off at the scale. But it's cool because they always get to hear the baby's heart, and the next ultrasound they get actually looks like more than just a dot. He still can't tell what's supposed to be a head and a butt and all that, but at least there's some shape to it, which means the baby's growing.

Santana's hormones are through the roof, though, and she is snappier than ever. She also ends up crying at a laundry detergent commercial, which is maybe the weirdest thing ever, but okay. But basically, all of this just gives her an excuse to be even bitchier than usual. He doesn't complain, though, because he's read a bunch of stuff on the Internet, and it all says all of this is like totally normal. So he just goes with it because like it or not, she's kind of the mother of his child, so he pretty much just has to deal with it.

It's starting to get really exciting, though, because now that he's semi-made up with his family, he can start sending them ultrasound pictures and updates just like Santana and Brittany get to do. His parents aren't a hundred percent on board with this whole thing yet, but he can tell they're starting to get excited by the prospect of being grandparents. He figured his mom might freak out about being too young to be a grandmother, but she's obviously appeasing herself with the fact that she still has a fourteen year old, which is apparently young enough to make up for the fact that she's going to have a grandchild in a matter of months.

But whatever, Sam's just thankful that he can finally start sharing all this stuff with his family because it makes everything seem even better.

…

They start talking about other stuff, like where they're supposed to fit a crib and all kinds of new baby stuff.

They've lived in the same two bedroom apartment ever since they got to Chicago. It's not very big at all, and it's not exactly the greatest neighborhood in the world, but it's cheap enough, and they're basically just used to it. Moving is a pain in the butt, and there's never been something bad enough happen to make moving really seem worth it. But now they're having a baby, and unless they want to put a curtain up in the living room and make a nursery out of it, they kind of need a bigger space.

All three of them spend time looking at new apartments and rental houses and stuff. Ideally, they'd all like to be able to buy a house, but that's just not happening. Sam's the only one with a steady job, but it's not like he pulls in a normal 40 hours or anything, so there's no way anybody in their right mind would finance them. So buying is just off the table. It just sucks because even _renting _in Chicago is hella expensive. The only good thing about their current apartment is the price, and Sam realizes that when he starts looking at other places and realizing he's going to have to start forking out a lot more for rent, on top of everything else that's going to get more expensive when there's another person to pay for.

And then he starts freaking out.

Ever since he came clean about the stripping and saw how much it bothers his parents, he's been trying to work out a way in his head to move away from it, but he honestly doesn't see how he _can. _If Santana already had a job, it'd be a different story, but she doesn't. She randomly works a few hours a week doing research, and there's no way anybody's going to hire her while she's pregnant, so there's no point in even looking right now. Brittany's still trying to make a living dancing, but it's getting further and further from the realm of reality, even though nobody really wants to admit that. But regardless, Sam's still the one who has to cover the majority of the bills, and he doesn't know any other job that he could do and make nearly the kind of money he's making right now.

Maybe by the time his kid's old enough to understand what a job is, he'll be doing something better, but for right now, he really can't get out of it.

…

They make it to the second trimester mark, and everybody's doing pretty good.

Santana's still kind of bitchy about gaining weight, but she's starting to get over it. It's still not super obvious that she's pregnant or anything, but she does have this little bump that's actually kind of adorable. Brittany loves it, too, and she spends about an hour a day with her head in Santana's lap talking to the baby. Sam's not bothered by it- he's mostly just glad that those two are apparently over whatever was tripping them up before. There have been plenty of times in the past few years where he would have totally welcomed some kind of split between the girls because it would allow him to be selfish and have Britt all to himself, but this isn't one of those times. They need to be together, and everybody needs to be happy. Everything feels like a whole new ballgame all of a sudden, and he's not sure he could even wish for a Brittany/Santana breakup if he wanted to anymore.

But for right now at least, everything she's pretty good. There's not a whole lot of drama or fighting or anything happening with any of them. Santana's even calmed down some, so even though she's still complaining about some stuff, she's not like yelling at someone every chance she gets or anything.

In a way, he feels like this is the best they've ever been, and he really likes that.

…

Mike's his best friend and has been for awhile.

He lives in Chicago, too, and minus a few of the dudes he knows from work, he's basically one of the few real friends he has here. They've always gotten along pretty well, and now Sam's kind of not sure how he'd even survive if Mike wasn't around. Don't get him wrong, he loves Brittany, and he loves Santana, too, in some roundabout way, but being around girls all the time kind of makes him go crazy sometimes. So it's nice to be able to escape for a little while, and Mike's always the one who helps him with that.

They meet up for drinks on Monday night because it's the only time Mike can do it. He's got shows every other night, and Sam's usually going to work by the time he gets done. So Monday it is, which is cool or whatever- it's less crowded at the bar at least, so that's good. Sam manages to get off work, too, so he doesn't even have anywhere to be, which is exactly how he likes it.

He hasn't actually seen Mike in awhile, like a couple of months actually. They text all the time, but Mike's really busy, and it's kind of hard to catch him, so they have a lot to catch up on. Sam spills all the details about his parents, even tells him about his mom hitting him, which is something he's managed to avoid letting slip in front of Brittany and Santana. He's not sure why really, probably because it's kind of embarrassing, but also because he doesn't want them to feel worse about the situation than they already do. They're happy now that he's kind of made up with his parents or whatever, but they both kind of felt guilty while he was being ignored by his family. So he just didn't want to make them feel bad and just gave them the abridged version of what really went down with his parents. He tells Mike, though, and he's not even really sure why except that he just really wants to talk about it maybe.

"But everything's cool now, right?" Mike's still on his first beer because he's really good at drinking slowly so that he doesn't get drunk. Not that he _never _gets drunk or whatever, but he doesn't do it a lot.

Sam just shrugs. He's already on his second because he personally has zero qualms about getting drunk right now. He hasn't been drunk in awhile, and maybe it's exactly what he needs. "I guess. I mean, they still don't love the whole idea of everything, but it is what it is, I guess."

"So they don't like the whole Brittany and Santana thing, right?"

"They just don't get it, I don't think. It's not something they're used to, so it just seems weird to them."

"Well, maybe you should just try to make them understand. Take the girls home for a visit or something."

Sam shakes his head, though, because that's something that's never going to happen. "My parents would just end up saying something dumb, and then Brittany would get her feelings hurt or Santana would start a fight. It's not worth it."

"Well, it's not cool that they're like judging you or whatever. I mean, you're not a kid. It's your life, and they should be able to accept it."

"It's not that easy."

"You think it was easy trying to convince my dad that being a dancer wasn't throwing my life away? I still did it."

And Sam tries really hard not to roll his eyes, but it doesn't really work. "It's not the same thing. Your dad wanted you to be a doctor so you could make a lot of money and be successful. My parents don't want me to be in this relationship because they literally think it'll send me to hell."

"Are they homophobic or something? I mean, I get that it's maybe weird to some people, but they're kind of overreacting, aren't they?"

Sam just shrugs and downs the last few drops of his beer. He needs another one ASAP. "They just don't get it."

It's hard because nobody else really understands the kind of place he came from. He doesn't want to make himself sound like a redneck or something, but Tennessee's just a lot different- the South in general is just different. It's not the same in Chicago where, yeah, people may think this relationship setup is weird or whatever, but they don't bat an eye when they see two girls kissing or two dudes walking down the street holding hands. But Sam's not from here, and neither are his parents. They're both from Tennessee, and he pretty much spent most of his childhood there, so he knows there's a whole different mindset. He's not from some backwoods little hick town or anything, but even moving to Ohio was a major change because it was way less conservative than what he was used to. It's just different growing up in the Bible Belt. There's just a really specific way of life there- you grow up saying yes, sir and no, ma'am, you do what your parents tell you to do, and you go to church every single Sunday no matter what.

His parents aren't hateful people. They would never purposely look down on somebody or treat somebody different because they were Jewish or Muslim or atheist or whatever, but they _would _whole-heartedly believe that those people were going to hell because they weren't Christians. And it's kind of the same way with gay people. They don't have a problem with gay people, and they would never be disrespectful or anything, but there's nothing in the world that could really convince them that that one stupid verse in Leviticus isn't meant to be taken literally. They just believe what they believe, and that basically comes down to the Bible being the ultimate law.

Sam's not going to lie and say he's always been able to separate it because that's not true. He's had plenty of "Jesus freakouts" over the years, specifically about stuff like homosexuality just because he's had to deal with it so much. Growing up, he didn't know that many gay people or even any that he can actually remember. He's sure that he knew some, but as a kid, it wasn't something that was necessarily brought to his attention or anything. But when he was a teenager, some of his best friends were gay, and while he'd never given a ton of thought to it before, he suddenly had to start thinking about it a lot. His parents always taught him not to judge people, that it wasn't his place, but there's a difference between judging someone outright and internally believing that they are doing something wrong. So while he loved his friends and thought they were some of the best people he knew, he struggled because as a Christian, he'd always been taught to worry about people's afterlives, so he kind of dealt with a lot of stuff internally about it.

And seriously, realizing that everything you've ever been taught your whole life might be a lie is kind of a rough blow to take.

He still considers himself a Christian, and it's still like really, really important to him. He still goes to church on a regular basis and prays every night, but he just doesn't take every word he hears at church or every verse in the Bible so literally. It's just something he had to come to on his own because he didn't really have anybody else around who was going to help him figure that out. He just doesn't believe heaven and hell are so black and white. Nothing is. He can't make himself believe that God banishes people to hell because they were born a certain way or because they happen to believe a different religion. Like is the Dalai Lama really going to burn in hell? Or freaking like _Gandhi? _Really? He just can't make himself believe that.

But plenty of people do believe it. He's sure if he asked his parents, _they'd _believe it. Just because the Bible says so.

So are his parents homophobic? No. They don't hate gay people; they don't even have negative feelings toward them. But do they believe that you're probably going to go to hell for _being _gay? Yes. Do they honestly believe that _he _will go to hell for choosing to participate in this particular relationship with these two women? Probably.

So it's complicated.

It's hard for other people to understand, especially people who don't come from such a conservative Christian home. Brittany's never really been to church on a regular basis, and Santana was born Catholic but never really raised in it. Some of her family's really strict about it, and it's those same family members, specifically her grandmother, who've never been able to accept her since she came out. Both of their parents are way more liberal and accepting of stuff like that than Sam can ever imagine his own parents being. If anything, Mike's kind of the closest thing he's got to relate to on that end because even though his family's not particularly religious, they _are _very conservative, and when they were in high school, Mike was the only other one out of all his friends that was like honestly afraid of his parents because he was the only other one who would actually get in trouble if he did something wrong. Mike put tons of pressure on himself to do everything right and make straight As because if he didn't, his parents would come down on him. Sam never had that same grade pressure (because the only thing he ever made an A in was P.E.), but he knew better than to break rules. If he did something wrong or even if he just skipped his chores or something, chances are, he was going to be grounded. And not grounded like the way some of his other friends were "grounded" where they still did whatever the hell they wanted, whenever they wanted. No, Sam would be grounded for real, like at home with no phone and no privileges and nothing but homework to keep him occupied. So at least Mike can relate on that level- what it's like trying to deal with parents who are totally no-nonsense or whatever.

But he really can't understand all this.

"I just wish that like everyone wouldn't focus so much on what they think we're doing wrong or whatever. Because now we're having a _baby. _And that should kind of outweigh everything else, shouldn't it?"

Mike's fingers dig a little bit at the label on his bottle. "I think they'll come around. At least you're making progress."

Yeah. At least that. He'll take what he can get.

…

He misses a doctor's appointment because he's running a fever, but Brittany and Santana come home practically bouncing.

They like both literally just burst into his room, and at first he thinks something's wrong until Brittany says, "We get to find out if it's a boy or a girl in three weeks!"

And that kind of shocks him because that means they're actually getting up there. If they can already tell what it is… It's literally like this whole thing gets more and more real by the second.

…

He's being lazy in bed and doesn't really want to get up.

Brittany's there, too, and they're watching some random movie on TV, even though he doesn't have a clue what's going on, and he's pretty sure she doesn't, either. But they're just hanging out, which is cool because sometimes lazy is just awesome.

Brittany brings up the obvious, though, and kind of interrupts his doing nothing. "We need to move."

"Yeah."

"Like… soon." She rolls onto her side and looks at him. "We need to do it fast."

"I know."

"Because when the baby gets here, we won't have anywhere to put it."

"I _know." _He's getting irritated, and it obviously comes across in his voice because she just stares at him for a few seconds.

"Why are you being mean?"

He sighs and scratches behind his ear. "I'm not being mean. I just don't know how we're gonna afford everything."

Brittany says something about them always making it, but he kind of tunes her out because there's a not-so-new thought running through his head, and all he can think is…

Maybe they didn't really plan this through well enough.

...

He will never get used to knowing that his girlfriend is having sex with somebody else in the next room over.

He accepts it- what else can he do? But he doesn't like it, and it never really gets any easier. But it's a lot easier to live in oblivion and peace when he doesn't have to actually _know _what's going on, like when he can't actually _hear _it happening. The walls are thin- that's definitely not a new development. This is something they've all been super well aware of for a long time, but that doesn't make it suck any less.

So he just turns up his TV and tries to pretend like he can't hear everything that's going on in the next room over.

It makes him think, though, about how potentially totally confused their kid might be. Like what will the kid even call them? He'll be Daddy, obviously, but what happens when there's two mommies? He randomly thinks about Rachel and her two dads, and he realizes he has no idea what she ever called them. He never really thought about it before, but now it just hits him. Not to mention, like how are they going to explain the situation and why one mommy goes between the other mommy and daddy? Like seriously, that's going to be confusing. Especially for a kid.

They need to seriously sit down and talk this stuff out.

…

"There's the head. And the butt. And see that?" The ultrasound tech points to something on the screen, and all three of them lean closer to see. "That's your little boy."

She smiles at them, and they're all just kind of stunned for a couple of seconds as the words hang around them. Little boy. It's a boy. They're having a _boy._

It's like it hits them all at the same time, and they all break into identical smiles. None of them have come right out and said what they wanted, but Sam kind of wanted a boy deep down, even though he was too scared to say it out loud. A girl would have been fine, too, but a boy is awesome because he's already planning all the cool stuff he's going to show him and teach him.

"Are you sure it's a boy?" It's Brittany who asks, and the tech just nods.

"He's bending over, let's see if we can get him to roll over…" She moves the wand around Santana's stomach and kind of presses down in certain spots. Nothing really happens, but then they see the screen start to change while the baby actually moves, and it's like the coolest thing ever. "Oops, see." She points to the screen again, and it's really obvious now. "Definitely a boy."

"Oh, wow."

"Look at his face." Sam moves in closer because it's crazy that you can actually kind of see where the face is, even though it's obviously not super clear.

"Yep," the tech points to the screen some more. "There's his eyes and his nose and his mouth."

"Oh, my god, can you tell if his mouth is normal sized?" Santana actually sits halfway up to see for herself, and Sam bites down on his back teeth to keep from saying the first thing that pops into his head, which is not exactly nice.

Anyway, truth be told, he's been waiting on that one for awhile.

…

The next couple of months are just spent getting ready for the baby and trying to prepare themselves for everything that's going to change.

They end up moving into a three bedroom apartment in an only slightly nicer part of town, but the rent is almost $500 more expensive. That's a lot. It's especially a lot considering the fact that they have all these extra expenses, not to mention all the doctor bills that are starting to float in. Having a baby isn't cheap, and they're all starting to realize that really fast.

Brittany gets a day job working at this baby store, and even though it doesn't pay a lot or anything, it's still extra money coming in. Plus, she gets a discount on stuff, so that really helps a lot. Sam starts working seven nights a week instead of his usual five, and Santana starts a little side business writing papers for people she knows who are still in law school. They're still not pulling in a ton of money, but it's more than before. And they definitely need it. They're just all kind of exhausted…

All Sam wants to do when he gets home from work is just fall into bed and sleep til like midday. He's always been kind of good about still getting up at a decent hour despite the fact that he doesn't go to bed til late, but now that he literally doesn't have a break or a day off ever, he just wants to sleep like all the time. He doesn't wake up until at least noon on most days, and Brittany's always already gone to work by that time. If she doesn't have any dance classes or anything happening at night, he might get to see her for a couple of hours after she gets home before he has to go to work, but it's definitely not a lot. Santana's at home a lot more, so he still sees her pretty regularly, but she's not doing a lot to help him in the whole not-being-lazy department. For one, she eats like a ton of junk food now, which is probably not good for her or the baby, but he's not going to point that out. So it makes it really hard not to just lay down on the couch with her and eat chips and watch Spanish soap operas all day. It sounds and looks super tempting, but he can't really be lazy like that or let his body go because their main source of income kind of depends on his abs. So he has to resist the Cheetos and still has to spend a pretty good part of the day at the gym because the last thing they need right now is him to lose his tips or his job altogether because he'd rather eat Little Debbies and stay at home to see if Francesca finds out that Carlos is cheating on her with Victoria.

So he forces his ass into gear and makes himself do everything he doesn't really want to do because that's what his family needs.

He starts thinking like that- like in terms of a _family. _He's thought it before, but now that there's a baby in the mix- _his _baby- it really starts sinking in. Him and Brittany and Santana and now their son- that's an actual, albeit super nontraditional, nuclear family or whatever they called it in his high school sociology class. It makes things a lot different when he starts thinking beyond him and his girlfriend and his girlfriend's girlfriend and starts thinking more about him and his girlfriend and his girlfriend's girlfriend and their _kid. _That's a lot of responsibility, and he takes that stuff really seriously.

The thought of having his own child feels even more intimidating than all the responsibility he's felt over the years about his siblings. This feels like a whole new ballgame. It's serious, and the closer it gets to actually happening, the more he starts freaking out.

…

He gets some rare alone time with Britt one day when she's off work and Santana's at the law firm.

He loves waking up and seeing her there because he doesn't see it a lot anymore. She usually sleeps with Santana because they're both usually already in bed by the time he gets home. So waking up and actually having her there with him is kind of awesome. He checks the time and sees that it's 11:29, so he's a little surprised that she's still asleep. She must have gotten in bed with him some time after he fell asleep last night or maybe even after Santana left this morning, but she's still sleeping away, despite the fact that it's almost noon.

He rolls over so that he can run his hand over her hip. She curls into him a little bit, probably unconsciously or something. He likes how warm her skin is under his hand, and he likes the way her eyelids flutter a little bit when he uses his index finger to trace lines across the skin there. And he especially likes when she eventually opens her eyes and smiles at him.

"Hi."

"Hey." She wrinkles her nose a little bit and says, "What time is it?"

"11:30. You slept late."

"I like sleeping beside you."

She cuddles in closer to him, and he's very happy when she kisses him. He wants to do like a whole lot more than kissing, and he seriously hopes she doesn't have any plans because this isn't something that happens a lot, and he kind of wants to take advantage of it. He doesn't know about _her _sex life, but his is seriously lacking, and that's not something he's exactly used to.

She seems like she's on the same page, though, when she kind of rolls halfway on top of him and starts kissing him a little more intently. He likes it. She is seriously the hottest thing he's ever seen in his life, so he's never going to complain when her body is basically sprawled on top of him. He's especially not going to complain right now when he's barely even seen her in a week.

He wonders if that's going to become even worse after the baby's born.

…

The third trimester hits, and they're officially in the homestretch.

They've started on the nursery- there's a crib and a dresser and a changing table. The crib has some bedding that hasn't actually been added yet. That's kind of it, though. Santana says not to worry about it because they'll get everything else during the baby shower, but Sam's not too sure about that. He doesn't have a _ton _of experience with showers or whatever, but he does remember when his mom had his brother and his sister. She never got much of anything at her showers except a whole bunch of clothes. Maybe she just had cheap friends or something, but Sam can't possibly imagine that they could be cheaper than anybody who might come to Santana's shower…

The good thing, though, is that Santana tells them that grandparents always buy the most expensive stuff anyway. And they have three sets of grandparents, so they're already ahead of the game.

They start arguing over stuff like colors for the nursery and what sort of outfit the baby should come home in, but the biggest argument comes about baby names. Nobody can agree on anything at all, and Sam's honestly kind of surprised at how much of an opinion he actually has on the matter. It's not something he's ever really thought about before, but now that he's actually going to have a son, there's no way in hell he's letting him be named something like Phineas or Wilbur- not that either of those names are actually brought up, but there's a whole bunch of horrible stupid ones being thrown around.

He's not sure they're ever all three going to agree on something, though. If he and Santana agree on something, Brittany hates it. If Brittany and Santana agree on something, _he _hates it. It's really starting to get annoying.

He's beginning to think their kid is just going to be called Baby Boy Evans forever.

He mentions this in frustration, but even _that_ turns out to be a mistake.

"Who the _hell _said his last name is Evans?!"

,,,

They get some strange looks when they go to birthing class.

Santana introduces Brittany as her girlfriend and Sam as the father. That seems to make sense to people, and the strange looks disappear for the most part. Sam's kind of surprised that it doesn't raise more questions than answers, but leaving out the part about Brittany also being _his _girlfriend probably helps. He's still a little surprised that people don't find it so weird, though. Whenever new people help them at the doctor's office, they always get a bunch of weird looks, so he's basically just come to expect it.

They go every Thursday night, and it's not all that terrible. The people are actually pretty nice, and while he could totally do without the more graphic end of the classes, the actual coaching part isn't awful. Santana wants Brittany to be her main coach, and he's not all that shocked. It's cool, though. It basically just means that he gets to sit around and just randomly interject little helps here and there. He's kind of surprised at how into it Brittany is, though. He's pretty sure he's never seen her this interested in learning anything that didn't directly involve some kind of choreography. But maybe that's what she's doing- maybe she's choreographing the birth in her head or something. He really wouldn't be surprised.

Being a third wheel in a birthing pair kind of makes him the default stand-in if somebody needs a partner, though. He steps in to help this lady named Amy one night because her husband apparently has a stomach virus and can't make it to class. He doesn't know Amy all that well, but they've talked a little bit. She seems pretty nice and definitely grateful when he offers to help for the night. They talk a little more while they're getting set up, and going through the coaching motions with her is actually kind of fun. She's super friendly, and he doesn't feel weird at all.

Then she asks him if he's single, and it kind of throws him for a loop a little bit. He doesn't really want to blow their cover when people are treating them so normally for once, so he doesn't like point across the room and say, "See that blonde in the pink shirt? That's my girlfriend." Instead, he just says, "No, I'm with somebody."

Amy kind of makes a frowny face and then shrugs a second later. It weirds him out for a second because he almost feels like she's hitting on him. She's married and pregnant, so that's definitely not okay…

But then she says, "My brother just broke up with his boyfriend, and I keep trying to find people to set him up with. You're exactly his type."

And okay. What?

"Umm…" Sam doesn't even know what to say. It's not like it's the first time somebody's assumed he was gay, but it's been awhile. Or at least he guesses it's been awhile- it's been awhile since somebody actually _said_ something about it. He doesn't know how to respond, so he just goes with, "I'm not gay," because it's to the point and should answer basically all other questions.

Amy seems surprised, though. "Oh. Sorry, I just thought…" He looks at her because he doesn't know what she _just thought. _"I just thought you were like the donor dad or something."

So now it makes total sense why nobody's giving them overly weird looks. They think Santana and Brittany are this cute little lesbian couple, and he's their gay bestie who provided the goods so that they could have a family. He really shouldn't even be shocked.

"No…" He wants to just tell the truth, but in all honesty, hiding it in here has actually been kind of a blessing. Still, he doesn't want to outright lie about it or anything. "Santana and I live together. I have a girlfriend."

"And she's cool with all this?" Amy looks a little surprised and now definitely more interested. "She must be really secure or something. I'm not sure I could handle my husband fathering somebody else's child."

"She and Santana are really close."

Understatement of the century.

"Oh. Well, that's really cool then." Amy smiles at him. "I think that's great!"

He has a feeling she'd be a tad more judgmental if he told her just how _close _his girlfriend really is with Santana.

…

Sam is wrong- they actually get a _ton _of shit for the baby shower.

Mike's wife throws it, and Caroline's like the classiest of the classy, so it's super nice, everything looks really rich. Mike and Caroline live in this really fancy apartment complex, and she rents out their all-purpose room or whatever and kind of transforms it into this kickass kind of baby shower wonderland. Obviously it's Sam's kid, but everybody tells him showers are just for women, so he helps with the set-up, and then he goes back to Mike's apartment, and they play video games for the next two and a half hours until Caroline calls and tells them that everything's finished.

When they first walk back into the room, it's kind of overwhelming. There's so much _stuff. _He has no idea how they're even going to get it all home, much less where they're going to put it when they get it there. For the most part, the people have cleared out. There are really just a few still hanging around. Brittany runs up to him as soon he gets there and grabs his hand to drag him over to her mom who is with an older lady he's never seen.

"Sam, this is Nana. Nana, this is Sam." The older lady smiles at him, and he assumes this is Brittany's mom's mom. He met her dad's mom a few times, but she died last year. He's never met this Nana before, so he smiles back and tries not to be awkward. He kind of hates meeting new people, though.

He's thankful for the excuse to go talk to his own family, though, even though he already saw them when they got here this morning. His mom and sister are the only ones who came. Apparently his own grandmother isn't as open to the idea as Brittany's because she completely ignored the invitation they sent her. He kind of wants to ask his mom about it, but he doesn't really want to open that can of worms.

His sister's in eighth grade and growing up way too fast, but she still loves him, so he's not surprised when she immediately goes to hug him and wraps both arms around him with her face in his chest. She stays like that, so he hugs her back and lets his chin rest on the top of her head. He hopes she doesn't get any taller than this because she's the perfect chin rest height, and any taller is going to make it awkward. So hopefully she's done growing.

He looks over her head at his mom and then glances across the room to where Santana's talking to her mom and like ten women he's never seen before in his life. "Who are all those people?"

"Santana's aunts." His mom looks over there, too, and then back at him. "She apparently has about a hundred. And obviously some pretty rich ones, too."

He assumes she's talking about the presents, which are all piled up against one wall. He glances at them and literally has no idea what half of the stuff is or what they're going to do with it.

Stacy leans her head back and looks up at him. "Yeah, one of them gave her a thousand dollar gift card to Babies R Us."

"Wow." He can't imagine ever just having a thousand dollars to throw away like that, but he's super grateful because it will definitely help out. Unless Santana wastes it and goes and just buys a bunch of designer baby clothes or something, but hopefully she won't.

"Less than a month now." His mom sounds kind of worried herself. "Are you ready?"

He's pretty sure he's never going to be ready, but he doesn't tell her that.

…

He works a private party one night and doesn't get home until almost four in the morning.

There are upsides and downsides to the private parties. The upside is obviously the money because you get an upfront premium plus tips. The downside is that as much as you get groped during a normal night at the club, you basically get literally molested during parties. He's used to it for the most part, but he's not sure he's ever going to just be totally at ease with a bunch of strange women touching every part of him like they own him or something. And at bachelorette parties, there's always that one crazy bridesmaid who's way too into it and wants to get rough and like spank him or something. It's pretty exhausting.

He goes home with total plans to just fall straight into bed and sleep til late afternoon, but when he gets home, Santana's awake and in the kitchen making a sandwich. He's surprised to see her up, but he's not surprised that she's apparently hungry. She can't even seem to _get_ full these days, and he knows she's just about over this whole pregnancy thing. He can't really blame her- he's kind of over it, too, and he doesn't even have to go through it.

She's been semi-nice to him lately, probably because she knows he's trying to do as much as he can. She's not a _total _bitch, so she does occasionally recognize effort. She just looks at him when he walks in and drops his bag on the table.

"You look like shit."

He blinks at her and could probably say something back, but what would be the point? She's probably just telling the truth. He's tired and sweaty and sticky, and he's probably got more than a couple of bruises and scratches. He probably _does _look like shit. So he ignores that and goes over to the counter where she's standing. "What are you making?"

"Peanut butter and salami."

He almost gags, but he grabs the bread and the PB knife when she's done with it. He can do without the salami, but peanut butter sounds kind of delicious right now. He's been hungry ever since the bride-to-be licked whipped cream from his belly button.

"I need your son to hurry the hell up, FYI," she tells him around a mouthful of disgustingness. "He's sitting like right on my bladder, and it's annoying as shit."

"He can probably hear you cussing right now."

Santana just shrugs. "He's gonna hear it soon enough."

She's got a point. He goes to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water. He offers her one, but she shakes her head and says she wants chocolate milk, so he grabs that, too. "Have you been asleep?"

She rolls her eyes and takes the glass he passes her. "For like thirty minutes maybe. Peewee decided to play soccer with my intestines, so I had to get up."

"Well, just a couple more weeks."

"A couple weeks too many."

They go to the living room, and he sits down on the couch. He's a little surprised when Santana sits down right beside him and basically like lays back against him so she can stretch her legs out. He can smell the salami, and it doesn't smell awesome, but he doesn't say anything. He just finishes his own sandwich while she finishes hers, and then he puts her napkin on the end table so she doesn't have to move. He knows it's hard for her to find spots and positions that are actually comfortable, so he's not going to make her move.

"I can't believe it's almost here. It's flown by super fast."

"Maybe for you." Santana rolls her eyes and leans her head back against his shoulder. He moves his arm to give her a better angle and lets his fingers kind of tap against her belly. She's made a huge deal about how he and Brittany are the only ones allowed to touch her stomach. It hasn't really worked because everyone wants to touch it all the time, and they usually don't bother asking permission. "I'll be glad when it's over."

"Yeah, but then we're going to have a _baby…"_

"And you can be the one getting up in the middle of the night when he decides to be a little butthead." She thumps her own stomach but doesn't raise her head. "He literally hasn't stopped moving for an hour."

"Maybe he doesn't like salami and peanut butter…" Sam feels a little kick against his hand right on cue.

"It's going to be crazy, isn't it?"

He thinks that's probably an understatement. "But it'll be cool. We'll have something that's like… all of ours."

Santana doesn't say anything for a few moments, but then she sits up and looks back at him. "I know what his name is."

…

Pierce Lopez-Evans is born at 2:37 PM.

After eleven hours of labor, he comes screaming into the world with lungs he probably most definitely inherited from Santana. Sam freezes for a second until the doctor's handing him a really messy little screamer wrapped up in a white blanket. It's crazy, though. He literally feels like his heart stops beating or something.

Brittany comes running around from the other side of the bed and comes up right beside him so she can see. She lets out this noise that kind of confuses him, but he assumes it's a good thing because she kind of looks like she's going to burst from happiness or something.

"Oh, my god…"

"Let me see!" Santana's apparently over all the pain or something because she's doing her best to sit up and demanding to see the baby she just spent all day pushing out.

Sam hands the baby over, careful to watch the head and all that stuff he knows you're supposed to do with tiny babies. He lays him down on Santana's chest, so she can hold him without moving too much. He's still covered in all kinds of goo, but it doesn't even seem gross in the least.

"He's so _little…" _And Santana's speaking in some kind of voice he's never heard from her before, but he definitely gets it. It's like all of a sudden, everything seems different, so it's not surprising that even voices are changing.

"He's perfect." Brittany's squats down and runs a finger over his nose. Sam can't really do anything but stare.

The nurse takes the baby back pretty quickly and cleans him up and weighs him and all that stuff. He's just gone for a couple of minutes, but it feels like forever. When she wheels him back in in his little bed, he's wearing a onesie and is wrapped up in a new blue blanket. He's got a hat on, and he's much cleaner than when he left. She lifts him out and hands him back to Sam while the doctor finishes up with Santana.

Baby Pierce is 7 lbs, 9 oz and 20 ½ inches long according to the card on his bed. Brittany wants to hold him, so Sam passes him over, and together, they count his toes and fingers and make sure everything seems normal on him. Sam pushes his hat back a little, and there's like a whole headful of black hair underneath it. He's not crying anymore. He's just sleeping and puffing out tiny little breaths that seem like the most amazing thing in the world right at the moment.

When Santana's finally cleaned up (and seriously, _gross)_, they all go over to the bed, so she can hold Pierce again. She seems as mesmerized as Sam and Brittany are, and she does exactly the same thing- looks at his hands and feet and then checks out his hair. "He's so cute…"

He is _really _cute. And also perfect.

It's like suddenly every single thing in the world makes sense. He's never felt anything like this before, and he's pretty sure he's never loved Brittany _or _Santana more than he does right at that second. Like seriously, this is his family, and he _loves_ them.

He almost changes his mind about Santana a second later, though. Almost.

"Thank god his mouth is normal…"

He'll let it slide for now. Besides, he won't tell her that his lips didn't start standing out until sometime around his first birthday.

He'll let that one be a surprise.

…

…

…

A/N: The end! Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. And for those people who have sent me rude messages, well, I'm sure you're reading this, so I guess that says it all.


	2. Chapter 2

**SCATTERED**

**Part 2**

…

They get a positive test on a Thursday.

He's actually still asleep when he hears somebody run into his room and fall onto his bed. He opens one eye and sees Santana there with a pee stick in her head and like the craziest look ever on her face.

"It's positive!"

He sits up then because it's like something immediately clicks in his head and makes him wide awake. She shoves the test at him, and he takes it without even thinking about how gross it is. But there in plain language where he's been used to seeing two words… just one.

_Pregnant._

It almost feels like he stops breathing for a second or something. He can't really believe what he's seeing. Even though they've obviously been trying to make this happen for months now, it feels totally different now that it's real. Like this test is real, and Santana's really pregnant, and they're really going to have a baby. It's totally insane.

"Did you tell Britt yet?"

"She's still asleep." Santana stands up and grabs his hand. "Let's go tell her!"

So he stumbles back to Santana's room, and there's Brittany passed out under the covers. Santana runs over and falls onto the bed the same way she did to him a minute ago. "Brittany, wake up!"

And it takes some actual shaking to make Brittany open her eyes and look at them. She looks super tired and not really all that coherent. But she yawns and says, "What's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant!" Santana seriously sounds happier about this than Sam's ever heard her sound about anything in his entire life. It's kind of unnerving.

"What?" And Brittany sits straight up. "Really?"

Santana waves Sam over, and he hands the test to Brittany who's practically bouncing with excitement. "Oh, my god!" She grabs Santana and kisses her, and then she grabs Sam and pulls him down so that she can kiss him, too.

And they all kind of fall into a pile on Santana's bed with the pee stick between them. It's probably pretty weird.

But what about their life isn't?

…

He starts freaking about the prospect of being a father pretty quickly.

It's just a lot to think about. Like obviously they've been trying for months or whatever, but now that they have a positive test, it's like a billion times more real. There's a baby that's going to be born soon, and he's going to be that baby's _dad. _And wow, it all kind of blows his mind.

Santana's not the only one acting happier than she has in ages. Brittany's also walking around with this constant huge smile on her face, like she's having the best thoughts in her head or something. Sam asks her about it one day when she climbs into his lap on the sofa and grabs the remote from him.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm just thinking about how great it's going to be when our baby gets here."

"Are you excited?"

"I can't wait to love it." She looks over and smiles at him, one of those really pretty smiles that kind of makes him crazy. "Think of everything we get to teach it."

He tries to imagine what their kid can learn from each of them, respectively. They're really not that bad of a make-up when it comes to teaching things. They each have stuff that's kind of specific to them, so maybe their kid will be well-rounded or whatever.

"Santana's really happy, too." Brittany leans back against his chest. "Sometimes I feel like she's mad at me, but now she seems really happy."

He's noticed that things are kind of tense there. He hasn't brought it up because he doesn't want anybody jumping his case over it. Besides, it's not like it's totally unheard of for any of them to fight- they all argue sometimes. But he's just been feeling like there's some kind of distance between the girls lately. It feels like it's pretty much gone now, so maybe he was reading more into it than there was or something.

Maybe a baby really will make everything good.

…

Brittany and Santana both tell their parents.

They both get pretty positive reactions, which isn't surprising because both of their families know all about the living situation and what's going on with it. Sam's sure that there're some raised eyebrows somewhere along the line, but overall, they both have parents who are basically supportive. So it's no surprise that they're all happy to hear about this new grandchild.

Sam's in a different boat. He hasn't told his parents and _can't _tell them over the phone. There's too much he has to explain.

He just has to figure out how to do it.

…

Santana like immediately turns into an even more demanding bitch than she normally is.

She's like two days pregnant, but apparently that's enough to give her free reign to like order everybody else around and start making all kinds of ridiculous demands. She's especially aiming all this at Sam because apparently the fact that he's the one that knocked her up means that he's the one who has to start catering to her every whim.

He knows a lot of it's just fake and put on because there's no way she actually _needs _someone to test the temperature of her decaf tea and make sure that it's the perfect degree of hot. She's just being crazy because she _can _be. For what it's worth, Sam just lets her for the most part. She is, after all, carrying his kid, so he can help out as much as possible. It's kind of the least he can do.

She texts him from her bedroom one night at 2:30 and tells him that she needs some orange juice. He's still awake because he just got home from work, but he's super tired and super not in the mood to deal with this right now. Whatever, though, he gets up and goes to the kitchen to get her some juice. There's like exactly enough for one glass left in the carton, so if she wants more, she's just gonna have to get over it because there's no way he's going out right now to get more.

He takes it to her bedroom and pushes the door open. He rolls his eyes when he sees Santana passed out asleep. Apparently she didn't really want her OJ that badly because she fell asleep pretty fast. Brittany's curled up beside her, also asleep. It's weird because he should probably feel really jealous looking at this, but he doesn't. He actually feels halfway happy seeing it.

He sets the glass down on the nightstand- that way, when Santana wakes up, she won't text him and bitch at him for ignoring her. And then he grabs the blanket from where one of them has kicked it to the end of the bed and pulls it up over both of them. Brittany doesn't move, and Santana just rolls kind of halfway over but doesn't wake up.

Maybe it's weird that he's tucking his girlfriend in with somebody else, but oh, well.

…

They have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and all three of them go.

He expects weird looks or whatever when they go to the doctor, but nobody really pays attention. He's never been in an OBGYN's office before, so he tries not to pay attention to the posters of lady parts that seem to be plastered _everywhere. _He literally had no idea that there were that many _parts _to it, and he instantly tries to forget.

The doctor comes in and introduces herself. Her name's Dr. Carlin, and she looks like she's in her 40s or 50s. She seems nice enough and asks some basic questions. Santana answers them, and Sam feels ridiculously out of place because he really doesn't need to know all those details about when she had her last period and whether she's had any spotting lately. But Dr. Carlin acts like it's no big deal and just jots some stuff down on her file.

He doesn't really pay attention to much of anything until Dr. Carlin says she's going to start the exam. Sam's not really prepared for that and doesn't particularly feel like he needs to see it. But when Dr. Carlin asks Santana if she wants anyone to step out, she just shakes her head and he's kind of stuck. Brittany wraps a hand around his elbow like it's no big deal, and he suddenly gets very interested in the floor.

It's over pretty fast, though, and the doctor says everything looks good. She calls somebody in to do bloodwork, and Santana loses like four vials of blood in one sitting. Sam feels kind of sick to his stomach, which is ridiculous because he's not the one with a needle in his arm, but whatever. And then it's basically over.

Dr. Carlin smiles at them and glances through a calendar. "We won't know for sure until we do an ultrasound, but your estimated due date is July 21st."

July 21st. That seems like forever away, but he has a feeling it's going to fly by.

"When can we do an ultrasound?" Santana's sitting up now, and she pops her fingers like she always does when she's nervous.

"We'll do one at your next appointment, try to get the heartbeat."

And Santana and Brittany are both all smiles at that. Sam can't really believe that the next time they come here, they'll actually be able to hear the baby's heart. It seems kind of surreal.

Kind of like everything else.

…

He tells his parents face to face.

He actually takes the weekend off and drives to Kentucky so that he can tell them in person. Brittany says she wants to go, but he tells her it's okay. Even Santana asks if she needs to tag along, but he really just doesn't want anybody else around. He wants to talk to his parents by himself because it's not just the baby that he needs to announce.

He hasn't exactly been honest with his family about his life in Chicago. They know that he's been dating Brittany since high school, and they know that Santana lives with them. They do not know that Brittany is also dating Santana. They also do not know that he pays the bills for all three of them by taking his clothes off. Really, he'd always hoped that his parents would _never _find out about the stripping, but he has a feeling they might find out sooner or later, especially now.

They're happy to have him home because he really doesn't visit that much. He sees them sometimes on holidays and stuff like that (sometimes with Britt, sometimes without), but he really doesn't come home that much. It feels weird calling Kentucky "home" anyway because he really only ever lived here for a few months. But this is where his family is, so this is home. And even though he doesn't really _see _them a lot, he's still pretty close with his family. He talks to his parents all the time, and he'd still do anything in the world for his brother and sister.

He gets in about 8 on Friday night, and the house is empty. His brother's got a football game, so the whole family's at the school. Sam knew about it and expected it, so he made sure to bring his key with him. He's kind of glad no one's home yet because it gives him more time to prepare, because even though he's had the whole car ride and weeks before to think of a script, he still has no idea what he's going to say.

His mom left a roast in the crockpot and a note telling him to eat. He never gets real food, so he's not going to pass up the opportunity here. Plus, maybe some homemade food will give him a better idea of what to say. Not likely, but he can try.

Plus, he just loves his mom's cooking.

…

He doesn't tell them. At least not right away.

In his head, he was going to tell them on Friday and have all weekend to talk about it. But by Saturday night, he still hasn't told them, and he really, really doesn't want to.

He spends most of the day hanging out with his brother and sister because he doesn't get to see them a lot, and he really misses them. His mom and dad also kind of hover, but it's okay because he misses them, too, and he knows they miss him. His family is really important to him, and even if he doesn't see them a lot or whatever, he still loves them like crazy and really, really cares about them.

And that's what makes this whole thing even worse.

He grabs his parents after dinner and asks if he can talk to them. His brother and sister obviously get the message and disappear, so it's just Sam and his mom and dad, and he's suddenly really, really fucking scared. They sit down at the kitchen table with him after it's all cleared off, and he can tell by the looks on their faces that they're worried about whatever he's going to spring on them.

"So…" He swallows because his throat feels really dry. "I have something to tell you guys."

"Are you getting married?" His mom just jumps in, and Sam's kind of surprised at the assumption.

No, he's not getting married because it's not exactly legal for three people to be married to each other or for one person to be married to two people. He can't just lead with that, though, so he says, "Um, no. But I _am _having a baby," because he literally does not know how else to say it.

His parents both look surprised. His dad doesn't say anything, but his mom smiles a couple of seconds later and says, "That's great, sweetie! I'm so excited!" And he smiles back because maybe this won't be that terrible. "When is she due?"

"Um, July 21st is the due date."

"That's wonderful!" He's kind of shocked actually, mostly because his parents have never been one-hundred percent behind the idea of him living with a girl he's not married to, so he's kind of surprised to see his mom so excited about a pregnancy. But maybe the prospect of grandkids overrides the whole living in sin thing or whatever.

His dad doesn't look to be on the same level as excited as his mom, but he doesn't seem upset, either. He just asks when they found out, and Sam tells him they've known for a few weeks, but just went to the doctor a couple of days ago.

And then his mom says, "Brittany should have come home with you, I bet she'll be so cute pregnant!" and Sam just kind of sits there because that's basically as big of an opening as he's ever going to get.

"What's wrong?" His dad's looking at him all suspicious because apparently stopping mid-conversation to look sick is a clear indication that maybe everything's not as totally chill as it could be.

Sam looks at the table and chews on the inside of his lip. This is really it. "It's… Santana."

He isn't looking at his parents, but he knows they're probably both confused. "It's Santana, what?" his dad asks, and Sam finally breathes and looks up.

"It's Santana who's pregnant."

They're quiet after that, and Sam looks between them to see what's going on. They both look confused, but it's actually his mom who finally speaks up. "You did _not _do that to Brittany! How _could _you?"

And his dad says, "I thought Santana was a lesbian?"

Sam just shakes his head and tries to make them both be quiet. "She _is _a lesbian. And I didn't do anything to Brittany. It was Brittany's idea."

"It was Brittany's idea for you to sleep with her best friend?" And his mom sounds like borderline outraged, but she's obviously trying really hard not to actually raise her voice.

Sam nods, though. "It was Brittany's idea to have a baby. She wanted Santana and me to do it."

"Why, though? Why would Santana agree to that? What kind of woman just has a baby for other people?"

"Lots of women do that actually," Sam's not sure why he feels the need to interject that, but he does. "But she's not doing it for other people. It's her baby."

"So Santana wanted a baby, and you helped her because you're such a good friend?" His dad's speaking slowly like he's trying to piece this together. "Isn't that going to get complicated?"

"It's already complicated. And it's my baby, too. And Brittany's. It's all of ours."

His mom just shakes her head and gives up. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sam takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "We're all having a baby," he says slowly. "Together. We're all in a relationship together."

"Wait, what?" His dad breaks right in, and the look of confusion is like slowly being taken over by another look. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Me and Brittany. And Brittany and Santana. We all live together because it's an actual relationship."

His parents are both staring at him, and he knows what that look is now- it's shock and disgust. They have nothing to say to him because they're literally disgusted.

"Brittany is bisexual," he tries explaining it in more literal terms. "She loves me, and she loves Santana. So we all live together, and now we're having a baby."

"You're going to hell." His mom speaks up, and Sam just stares at her. She swallows, and he can tell she's not even struggling to keep her voice calm anymore because she's no longer angry- she's just devastated, so her voice won't physically rise. "This… It's a _sin."_

"Mom…" Sam doesn't even know what to say. He knew his parents weren't going to be happy, and he knew he would probably deal with some yelling or them saying what a disappointment he is or something, but he could handle that. He's been yelled at plenty of times before, but he's never had to sit there and listen to his mother tell him he's going to Hell. He doesn't know what to say, so he looks at his dad and tries to ask for some help, but he gets nothing besides that same look of disgust.

"It's… _sexual perversion!" _his mom finally blurts out, and when he looks back at her, she's got tears in the corner of her eyes, and he just feels like shit. "What you're doing is just _wrong, _and you'll go to hell for it!"

"It's not sexual perversion!" He shakes his head because he knows he's screwing this all up. They probably think he's having giant orgies every night or at least threesomes. But he's not. He's never had at threesome in his entire life. He doesn't even _want _to. "It's not like that. You don't understand, it's not all of us _together. _It's me and Brittany. And Brittany and Santana. It's not like we all three are together."

"And yet, Santana's pregnant with your child." His dad finally speaks up, and his voice is eerily calm.

"We did that on _purpose." _Sam feels defeated, like literally defeated.

"You weren't raised like this." His dad's still got that awful thing going on with his voice, and Sam honestly feels like he's about to cry. He knew this was going to be hard, but he didn't expect it to feel like this.

"I can't help who I love."

"You know this is wrong," his dad counters evenly. "That's why you've been lying about it for years."

Sam doesn't even know what to say back to that because there's a part of him that knows it's true. He's never told his parents because he knew they wouldn't approve. And while he's pretty good at blowing other people's opinions off, it's a lot harder to do that where his parents are concerned because he really _does _care what they think. And he knew they wouldn't approve of this.

"And now you're going to bring a _baby _into it…" His mom's voice breaks off at the end, and she lets her face fall forward into her hands.

"Mom, please…" He feels terrible because he know she's upset, and he knows it's his fault. He's always had this pretty massive guilt complex, and right now, it's at like an all-time high. But his mom won't answer. She just shakes her head and doesn't lift her face, and he feels like he's going to be sick.

"I think you should leave."

His dad's words just like echo through the kitchen, and Sam literally feels his stomach drop. Are they really kicking him out? They're kicking him out.

"Dad…"

But his dad isn't interested in it. "Just go, Sam. Get your things, and go. We'll talk to you later."

He doesn't know what to do. He can't believe they're kicking him out, and he doesn't know whether to be pissed or devastated. He can't fight back, though, because he doesn't want to make them even more upset. He wants to cry, but he won't because he'll just make it worse.

"Can I tell the kids bye?" He keeps his eyes averted because he's scared of looking at them right now.

"Hurry," his dad says blankly. And that's that.

Sam doesn't try to argue. He just gets up from the table and goes to his brother's room where his bag is. Both of his siblings are in there looking at something online, and they both look at him when he comes in and starts throwing the rest of his clothes into his duffel.

"Where are you going?" Stacy sits up and looks confused. He can't really blame her, since he isn't scheduled to leave until tomorrow.

"I'm going back to Chicago"

"Tonight?"

He nods and tries not to look as upset as he feels. "They don't want me here."

"What happened?" and now Stevie sounds just as confused. Sam just lets out a breath and shakes his head.

"I don't know what I'm allowed to tell you. But whatever they say, just know there's more to the story, okay?" He zips up his bag and slings it over his shoulder.

"But what happened? What's going on?"

Sam wants to tell them everything because a part of him really thinks that they'll be on his side and understand. They're not little kids anymore, and maybe they're more open-minded than his parents. On the other hand, he doesn't want to cause any trouble for them, either. "It's fine," he tells them. "They'll calm down." He doesn't know if he actually believes that, but he says it to make himself feel better.

"They can't tell you to leave," and Stacy stands up like she's ready to start going off or something. "This is your house, too."

"Stace, just don't worry about it, okay?" He grabs her and hugs her, and then he goes over to hug his brother, too. "Call me later if you want to talk." He tells them bye and tells them he loves them, and then he leaves to go face his parents once again. Both of his siblings act like they're going to follow him, but he tells them to stay back. "Just don't get into it, okay? Call me."

So he's alone when he gets back to the kitchen and finds both of his parents leaning with their backs against the counter. His mom isn't crying, but she won't look at him. His dad still has the same face on from before.

"Will you call me when you're not so upset?" he asks quietly because there's a part of him that thinks that if they will just listen that they will understand. He just needs them to listen.

Nobody answers his question. His dad says, "Be careful going home," and his mom still won't look up. It's the first time in his life that he remembers walking out the door of his house without one or both of his parents hugging him and telling him they love him. He really feels like he might vomit.

But he leaves because he doesn't know what else to say.

…

He makes it almost all the way to Indianapolis before he pulls off the road and into a random gas station.

It's starting to rain a little bit, and his head hurts so bad. His eyes are starting to blur because no matter how hard he tries to fight it, he really just wants to cry. And also, he starts freaking out to the point where he's having trouble breathing correctly.

So he pulls over.

He keeps the car running and lets his head fall forward to the steering wheel. He tries to fight it a little bit, but his whole body starts shaking, and he ends up crying a little bit. He isn't sobbing or anything super dramatic like that, but he feels really hurt and betrayed.

It's the worst feeling in the world.

…

When he gets home, it's after one, and all the lights in the apartment are out.

He tries to be as quiet as possible because he doesn't want to bother the girls. He realizes that it never occurred to him to call them and tell them he was on his way home, so they're not expecting him. He drove nearly the whole five hours in total silence, and he really just wants to climb into bed and go to sleep.

He goes to his room and drops his bag on the floor and doesn't bother brushing his teeth or anything before he starts stripping his clothes off. He just wants to be asleep because maybe this won't feel as bad in the morning. He's just barely climbed under the covers, though, when he hears his door slowly being pushed open. He looks over, and there's Santana with her phone in one hand and a Chicago Cubs anniversary baseball bat in the other. She lets out this huge breath and glares at him.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Um, going to sleep." He grabs one of his pillows that's fallen to the floor and drops it back on the bed.

"You scared the shit out of me. I thought somebody was breaking in."

"Sorry to disappoint."

She drops the bat beside his duffel and crosses her arms. "What's wrong with you? I thought you weren't coming back til tomorrow."

"Yeah, well, my parents kicked me out, so I didn't really have much choice."

"What do you mean they kicked you out?" She actually closes the door to his room then, obviously so that they don't wake Britt up or whatever.

"I mean, they told me to get my shit and get out of their house."

"They aren't happy about the baby?" She takes it upon herself to walk over and sit down on the edge of his bed.

"They were happy for like two minutes. Until I told them it was you who was pregnant, not Brittany."

"They don't like me." It's a statement, not a question.

Sam just shrugs one shoulder and rolls over onto his side. "They don't even know you."

"What did they say?"

"They said what we're doing is wrong. That it's a sin. And we shouldn't bring a baby into it. And my mom told me that I was going to hell." He's not sure why it all comes out like that, but he figures there's nothing to hide.

"You're not going to hell." And even with his back turned to her, he can feel the bed shift as she crawls up it to lie down beside him.

"You don't know that."

"Sam." And he can practically _hear _her eye roll. "If all that stuff about heaven and hell and all that shit is real, you're probably like the _last _person God would send to hell."

"We shouldn't be doing this."

"So you're just going to believe whatever your parents say? Isn't part of being a Christian not like judging the shit out of other people? Your parents are kind of doing a fucked up job at that if you ask me."

And then he rolls over to look at her because she's not doing much to make him feel better. "Don't talk about them like that. They _are _Christians, and so am I. Or at least I'm supposed to be. I've been lying about my entire life for years now, and the only reason I've been lying is because I know it's wrong!" His dad was right about that, and that just makes him feel worse. "What we're doing isn't _right. _Nothing about what I do with my life is right. I'm a freaking stripper in some kind of fucked up polygamous relationship!"

"It's not polygamy because we're not married." He rolls his eyes because that's so not the point right now. "And whatever, Sam. Who gives a shit what your parents think? Trust me, even thought sometimes I seriously want to murder you, you're still like… the most decent human being I know, okay? So fuck them. God knows you're a good person."

He's not really sure how much he should trust Santana's opinion of God since she generally claims to be agnostic on a good day and atheist on an average day. But he appreciates the effort. He still goes to church and everything, and even though she makes fun of him for just about everything else, she's always left him alone on that one. She knows it's important to him, so he appreciates her trying to soften the blow of his parents' rejection.

"Nobody can tell you what's right or wrong because that's not their place." He feels like he's in some kind of parallel universe where Santana's being nice to him. It doesn't happen often, and maybe it's the baby hormones, or maybe she's just happy that he's not a burglar, but she's being actually decent to him. "Trust me, you're a good person. You always try to do the right thing and like help people and stuff. And even if I give you shit a lot of the time, I know you're like the best guy in the world to have a baby with."

He tries not to appear too happy about that, but he kind of sucks at it. So he smiles at her, and she rolls her eyes like he's annoying the crap out of her. "So really, you're happy that I'm your baby daddy."

"Don't make me regret not bashing your head in with a baseball bat."

He just smiles again because no matter what she says, he knows there's a part of her (maybe a really deep, hidden part) that's secretly endeared by him. He gets it because it's mutual.

So he's really not surprised when he puts an arm out for her, and she kind of rolls into him and leans against his shoulder.

Maybe this baby mama stuff isn't so bad.

…

…

…

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far. More to come soon!


	3. Chapter 3

**SCATTERED**

**Part 3**

…

He never really understood the whole saying about that moment when the world stops spinning or whatever. But standing in Dr. Carlin's office on a Monday morning, he finally gets it.

There's a picture up on a TV monitor, and he can't really see anything but this little dark dot. But it's blinking, almost like it's waving at him, and there's this steady quick beat echoing through the otherwise totally silent room. And that's it. He actually feels the world stop moving.

And the only thing he can even comprehend is that that's his kid heart beating.

He has a _kid. _Who has a _heart. _And he can hear it and see it, and it's totally hands down the most amazing thing in the entire universe.

"Is it supposed to be that fast?" Santana's completely focused on the monitor, and she doesn't even look up when she asks the question.

"It sounds perfect." Dr. Carlin smiles around the room at them. "Everything looks great."

Sam feels Brittany squeeze his hand, and he kind of registers the fact that he's dazed out. He doesn't really know how else he's supposed to be functioning right now considering this whole thing just got like a billion times more real.

It's like… a _real _baby.

…

They go home with pictures of the little dark dot, and Brittany and Santana both immediately text copies to their parents.

It kind of stings a little bit because Sam doesn't. He'd like to text his mom or dad a copy of it and hear the same excitement back that the girls are, but he knows that's not realistic. His parents haven't spoken to him since he left Kentucky, and while he's talked to his brother and sister a few times, he can tell they really don't have a clue what's going on. Apparently even knowing they're going to be an aunt and uncle is like too much for his parents' liking because Stacy and Stevie are clueless. They both keep trying to ask him what's going on, but he just tells them that everything's fine and to just stay out of it. He doesn't want them in the middle, even if they would probably take his side. He knows they would just end up getting themselves in trouble somehow, so he just wants them to keep out of it. Both of them have a tendency to be a little mouthy, and he can just imagine the potential arguments that might happen between them and his parents, so maybe it's best that they don't have a clue what's going on.

It just sucks that he can't share the baby stuff with them.

He tries not to worry about it. At least Brittany and Santana's families are both supportive and happy about it, so it's not like his kid will be missing out on grandparents or anything. He hopes it won't be missing out on his own parents, either, but right now, it's definitely too hard to tell. If they'd just _talk _to him, maybe he could make them understand. But they won't, and all he feels is rejected and more rejected.

It's not something he ever really expected to feel, so it's taking some getting used to.

…

He comes home from the gym and walks straight into a fight.

He tries to just ignore it because he doesn't want to be in it, and he doesn't want them dragging him into it. So he just fakes obliviousness and goes to the kitchen to get a beer. He plans on taking it back to his room and turning on the TV so Brittany and Santana can continue whatever they're arguing about. He doesn't really need to know because it's not his business, and whatever's going on between the girls is between them. It doesn't have anything to do with him.

But he hears somebody crying when he's about to head back to his room, and he kind of just wants to yell at them to quit it. He can't really hear in detail or anything, but somebody's crying, and he's pretty sure it's Brittany. Sometimes she takes Santana too seriously, and when Santana's upset, she can be pretty ruthless. Brittany lets it get to her and sometimes gets really upset, like more than it's worth or whatever, but she's just sensitive.

But he's kind of surprised to pass the living room on his way back to his room and see that it's Santana, not Brittany, who's crying.

It's probably like hormones or something. Santana's not a crier, so it's definitely weird to see her upset. She normally only cries when she's drunk, and since she's kind of knocked up, the chances of her being drunk aren't actually all that great. But still, the fact that she _is _knocked up kind of makes the whole thing hard to just ignore because she's carrying his kid, and that gives him a whole list of reasons why he shouldn't just let her cry.

So he stops and asks what's wrong.

"Nothing," Santana snaps hatefully, and she wipes her eyes really fast like it's not obvious that she's been crying.

And Brittany says, "I don't know!" at exactly the same time.

Sam's confused. He knows they're arguing, and Santana obviously wants him to stay out of it. He doesn't know what's going on, but he's pretty sure all that tension's not good for his baby. "Well, if y'all wanna talk about it…" It's awkward because he has to offer, even though he knows there's no way Santana's going to talk to him.

He just leaves them to it, though, and goes back to his room to watch TV.

…

There's a lot of tension.

Britt and Santana are barely even speaking, and Brittany's staying with him every single night. When he asks her what's going on, she just says, "Santana's mad at me," and that's like literally all he can get out of her. He's not even sure _she _knows what's happening.

Whatever's going on is making Santana even meaner, though, and since she's not really talking to Brittany, she's basically taking it out on him. He just lets her because he knows she needs somewhere to direct her anger, so he just tries really hard not to take it personally.

After all, it's really important to keep things normal right now.

…

He hears it like as soon as he wakes up. In fact, he's pretty sure that's what woke him up to begin with.

He knows Santana's in the bathroom puking because he can hear the gagging and the coughing and like even the splashing sounds, which is really freaking gross to be honest. Brittany is literally dead to the world and actually snoring, so he knows there's no way she's going to just wake up naturally and go check on her girlfriend or whatever. He could wake her up, poke her or something, but she didn't get home until really late last night, and he knows she's really tired. She's been working for a high school cheerleading squad, choreographing or something, and she's been staying out at practice a lot later than normal. It's not like he went to bed early himself or anything, considering his job isn't really "early to bed" friendly or whatever, but he's more used to it than she is.

So he gets up.

He knocks on the bathroom door once and then pushes it open without waiting for an answer. Santana's on her knees by the toilet with her forehead in her hands and obviously trying to breathe normally or something. She's not puking like this very second or whatever, but it stinks really bad, and he makes the mistake of actually like glancing into the toilet and then kind of gags himself.

"Don't you fucking dare," and he only barely understands her when she mumbles hatefully at him.

He doesn't throw up, mostly because he hates throwing up, but also because she might actually kill him. Instead, he keeps his eyes away from the toilet and tries to breathe through his mouth. But it's hard when he tries to talk and says, "Are you okay?"

She looks at him like he's super dumb or something, which is always kind of scary because it usually means she's about to either go psycho on him or say something really mean. "Does it _look _like I'm okay?" And yeah, maybe it _was _a dumb question…

"Do you want me to get you some water or something?"

Santana doesn't answer him. She just keeps her head ducked and closes her eyes. He doesn't know what to do, so he grabs a washcloth and wets it. He hands it to her, and she looks up at him long enough to take it. So then he takes a chance and reaches over to quickly flush the toilet, hoping that it will at least get rid of the puke stench. Santana doesn't snap at him or anything, and she actually leans back against the wall and like presses the washcloth over her face.

But then her head snaps up, and she's glaring at him a second later. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I have to pee…" It should be kind of obvious what he's doing.

"Oh, my god, do that like in the sink or the shower or something!"

"But the toilet's right here." He honestly doesn't see what the big deal is. It's not like she's still puking in the toilet or whatever. Anyway, he doesn't have time to argue anymore because that totally satisfying feeling of relief hits him, and he's relieving himself.

Santana's still just kind of glaring, but she lets her head fall back against the wall and tells him how gross he is. "You're pissing like two inches from my head."

It's more than like two inches, but whatever. He finishes and gets himself resituated, and then he offers her a hand so she can stand up. She takes it, and he pulls her up to her feet. He can tell she doesn't feel good, so he helps her stay balanced. "Want me to make breakfast?"

"Want me to puke again?"

Fair enough. He pulls one of her arms around his neck and hoists her onto his back pretty easily. She doesn't complain or protest- apparently she likes being carried right after she throws up. He's not all that surprised. "Juice?" He can feel her nod into the back of his neck where her face is currently buried, so he takes that as a yes.

He takes her back to his room because that's where Brittany is, and maybe she'll like wake up and take care of her or something while he gets them something to drink. Brittany does actually wake up when Santana crawls into bed with her after Sam lets her slide back to her feet.

"What's wrong?" Brittany's tired and totally disoriented, and she's probably confused right now being in Sam's bed with Santana.

"I just dry heaved like half my body weight…"

Brittany doesn't act grossed out or whatever. She just opens her arms and lets Santana roll into them so she can hug her.

It's a start

…

He gets off stage one night and heads straight for the dressing room just like usual.

He drops a pile of cash onto his table and takes another couple of handfuls from one of the stagehands who brings him the leftovers. He glances down at it and tries to guess how much is there. Not a lot- like nothing to really brag about. But it's a Tuesday night, so he's not really surprised. One of the newer guys asks him what the crowd's like tonight, and he just tells him that it's okay, nothing spectacular.

Sam's tired, though. He's ready to go home, and he has no interest in sticking around trying to catch anymore slots. It's not worth it to wait around for another shot at the stage, especially when what little crowd is out there will be probably be cleared out. He's just not down for it tonight.

He goes to his locker and grabs his clothes out so that he can get changed. He checks his phone instinctively and sees three missed calls from his brother and then a text that just says "where are you?" He doesn't know what's up, but he's worried that something's wrong, so he calls him back and balances his phone between his ear and his shoulder while he pulls his jeans up. When his brother answers, he asks him what's up.

"Are you like busy?"

"I'm just getting done at work. What's wrong?"

There's a couple of seconds of silence, and then Stevie says, "I kind of need you to pick me up."

Now he's super confused because… "What? Pick you up where?"

"At the Greyhound station."

"I'm in Chicago." He doesn't know what his brother's doing at the bus station, but he's not really sure what it has to do with him, either. It's not like he lives right down the road.

But then Stevie says, "So am I," and Sam just sits down because he doesn't even know how to deal with this.

"What do you mean? Why are you in Chicago?"

"I rode the bus here, but now I don't know where to go. Can you please just come get me?"

Sam just sighs because he has no clue what's going on. But he's also not going to let his brother sit at the downtown Greyhound station, so he just finds out exactly where he is and then tells him he'll be there in a few minutes.

…

Stevie's got a duffel bag and tries to offer up this really big smile like everything's totally normal when Sam pulls up to get him. He jumps in the car and throws his bag into the backseat and then says, "I was freaking out because I couldn't get you to answer!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam glances around and tries to figure out the quickest way back to the highway. This isn't the best neighborhood, and most of the people around the bus station look seriously sketchy. He doesn't love the idea that his little brother's just been here by himself for who knows how long.

"I just wanted to come visit." It's dark in the car, but Sam can tell by Stevie's voice that he's like hurt or something, probably because Sam seems less than enthused to see him. But it's not that he's not happy to see him, he just doesn't know what he's _doing _here.

"Why didn't you call or something?"

"Well, I called when I was on my way, but you didn't answer."

"I was at work. I mean, what? Did you just decide you wanted to come out here spur of the moment, and Mom and Dad were just cool with it?" There's like three seconds of silence, and Sam has all the answer he needs. "They don't know you're here."

And Stevie's quick to protest with, "They wouldn't have let me come!"

Sam shakes his head and tightens his fingers around the steering wheel as he tries to switch lanes. "I'm gonna kick your ass."

"You know they wouldn't let me!"

"You're sixteen! You can't just decide you're gonna take off to another state and hop on a Greyhound! That makes you like a runaway or something!"

He can make out Stevie's outline from the corner of his eye and sees him cross his arms defensively. "You said I could talk to you if I wanted to."

"I meant on the phone!"

"So you don't want me here?"

Sam rolls his eyes because this is seriously frustrating. He tries to tell himself to stay patient, but it's really hard when he kind of wants to pull the car over and strangle his little brother. "I'd rather not be arrested for kidnapping, if that's what you mean."

"Stop being so dramatic."

"Call Mom and Dad."

"It's 2 o'clock in the morning there!"

"I don't care." Sam has literally never been so frustrated with his brother in his entire life. He doesn't need this right now, and he already knows this is all gonna come back on him some way anyway. "Have they called you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then they know you're missing. Call them before they get the cops involved or some shit."

Stevie's still got his arms crossed and he makes this little noise like he's about to say something and then cuts himself off. Finally, he says, "I'll call them when we get to your house. I really gotta pee."

Okay. Sam has _no _freaking clue what that has to do with _anything, _but it doesn't matter because he feels his phone vibrating in the pocket of his jeans. He keeps his eyes trained on the road as he digs it out and glances at the ID. It's his mom. Crap.

"Don't answer it!" Stevie's all over it, too, but Sam just elbows him away and hits the accept call button because he is _not _making himself an accomplice to this.

"Hello?"

There's no greeting back or anything, just a half-panicked, "Have you heard from Stevie?"

Sam ignores the way Stevie is currently glaring at him and just grits his back teeth. "He's with me."

"Oh, thank God!" And then he hears her telling someone else- his dad, he guesses, "He's with Sam!" before she comes back to him with a totally different accusatory tone and says, "What are you thinking?!"

Sam once again tightens his grip on the steering wheel because it's something to keep him focused on not losing his own temper. "Mom," he says slowly, trying to keep his voice calm. "I literally _just _picked him up from the bus station. I did not know he was coming here. I especially didn't know he was coming without permission."

He hears something that sounds suspiciously like, "_Kiss ass," _being hurled at him from his right, and he snaps his head over to glare at his brother at the same time his mom starts talking again.

She doesn't apologize for accusing him or anything. She just demands to talk to Stevie. "Put him on the phone."

Sam sighs and tries to pass the phone to his brother who won't across his arms and take it. "Talk to her!" he hisses threateningly, but Stevie refuses. No matter how hard Sam tries to shove the phone at him, all he does is get it elbowed back. Finally, he gives up. "He won't take the phone." He can tell by his mom's annoyed sigh that she's pissed and that his brother's totally in for it whenever she gets her hands back on him. "What do you want me to do?" He kind of feels bad for selling his brother out or whatever, but this is dumb, and he doesn't want in on it. "I can put him back on a bus in the morning."

"We'll come get him. I don't trust him on a bus."

Great. That's all he needs, too- his parents coming to visit. He doesn't argue, though. He just tells her to wait til the morning and to call when they're close. She tells him not to let his brother out of his sight.

This should be fun.

…

Stevie's not talking to him when they pull up to the apartment building, and Sam has to like literally drag him out of the car because he refuses to budge. When he's got him out, he throws the duffel at him and tells him to be quiet in case the girls are asleep.

The girls aren't asleep, though. The lights are on, and they're both standing in the kitchen making peanut butter sandwiches while the TV blares from the living room. Maybe Sam should have warned them that he was bringing home company in the form of a sixteen year old boy because neither one of them are exactly fully dressed. They're not _naked, _but it might be nice if they like had some shorts on or something. They both stop what they're doing and just stare at him when he walks in with his brother, which is kind of exactly what his brother does, too, except like a million times more intense.

It takes Sam like thirty seconds of everybody just staring at each other before he finally snaps out of it and shoves his brother toward the kitchen door. "The bathroom's down the hall." He doesn't know if his brother's actually gotta pee or not, but he needs to get him out of the room.

It works, though, and the second he's out of sight, both the girls flip on Sam. "What the hell?!" Santana snaps. "A little notice would have been nice!"

"I didn't know he was coming!" Sam rolls his eyes. "He like ran away or something. My parents are coming to get him tomorrow."

"Why did he run away?" Brittany looks confused and concerned, which she really shouldn't be, considering the fact that Stevie had no real reason to run away except that he's a little punk.

"Because he's a spoiled brat, I don't know." Sam's pissed, and none of this is really helping the fact that he's so tired he feels like he could pass out. "I'll make him sleep in my room, so y'all can finish whatever you're watching."

He kisses Britt and tells them goodnight before going down the hall and meeting his brother as he comes out of the bathroom. Stevie immediately looks back toward the kitchen, but Sam just pushes him along in the other direction until they get to his room, and then he shuts the door behind them.

"Do you really get to do both of them?"

It's the first thing Stevie's said since Sam ratted him out, and it makes him do a double-take because seriously? What the hell?

"What are you talking about?"

"Dad said you knocked Santana up. And obviously you've been hitting that with Brittany for like a _long _time. So."

Sam just shakes his head because he can't even get coherent words out. "What is even coming out of your mouth right now?"

"Dude, I just want to know. And you said we could talk to you, so I'm just trying to get the whole story."

Sam rolls his eyes. "It's not like that, okay? Santana's pregnant, but it's not like that."

"So you didn't do her?"

"Okay, like seriously, this is none of your business." He's actually kind of getting pissed off. He forgot how annoying teenagers are. "She's pregnant, that's it. I'm not with her like that."

"I thought she was a lesbian anyway."

"She is."

"And Brittany is, too?"

Sam has no idea what all he's heard, and he really doesn't feel like rehashing all of this again. But really, he may as well be honest about it because there's no telling what screwed up, perverted scenarios his brother has going through his head. "She's bi."

"So she's Santana's girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"And she's _your _girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Dude, that is so hot!"

Sam wants to smack him. For real. Instead, he shakes his head. "No. It's not. Like at all."

"You get to bang two hot girls who also bang each other!"

Sam's eyes go wide because he like literally cannot believe the words that are coming out of his brother's mouth. When did he start talking like that? And why is he such a douchey little perv? "Okay, you don't understand anything about it. So just shut up, okay? Because you're pissing me off."

He ignores whatever Stevie says next. Instead, he pulls his shirt off and then takes the stack of money out of his jeans pocket and opens his top drawer so he can add it to the stash there that needs to go to the bank.

He honestly doesn't think anything about it, but Stevie's staring at it with these huge eyes, and then he says, "What the hell, man? Are you like a stripper?" And he laughs because he obviously thinks he's making a joke. But apparently Sam freezes or something and must give himself away because that laughter like gets awkward and fades away. Then there are like two beats of silence before, "No fucking _way."_

…

His parents show up around noon.

Sam gives them directions on how to get to the apartment because they've never been here before. Stevie's back to not talking to him, obviously pissed off that he didn't call of their parents or whatever. Sam doesn't care. He's pissed, too, and he doesn't think he should have to be in the middle of all this.

It's awkward like the second his parents walk into the apartment. They apparently left Stacy at home or something because she's not with them. They both look _super mad, _and Sam honestly can't really blame them. But he gets annoyed when they come in and barely speak to him and just kind of give judging glances at Brittany and Santana who, luckily, are both fully dressed and staying quiet for the most part.

They pretty much immediately start going off on Stevie, who doesn't help his case much by being a total jackass back. Sam's got to give it to him- he's got some major balls. There's no way in _hell _Sam would have ever dared talk to his parents like that when he was that age. He was too scared, but apparently that fear got lost somewhere between him and his brother because Stevie's talking himself deeper and deeper into a craphole and doesn't really seem to care.

It's really awkward, though, and Sam feels a little embarrassed considering the fact that his family is making a scene while Brittany and Santana are right there. The three of them just kind of stand around with their eyes on the ground while Sam's parents and brother fight across the room.

But then everything goes to hell because apparently Stevie's either got not concept of bro-code or else he's just pissed because he thinks Sam sold him out in the first place or something because he snaps at his parents, "So Sam gets to go around screwing two lesbians and being a stripper, but _I'm _the bad one?!"

It gets like instantly quiet after that. Sam doesn't know whether he's shocked or not. He kind of knew it was all over last night, but it doesn't make him feel any better when he can feel both of his parents' eyes like boring into him even though he won't look at either one of them. He can also tell the girls are staring at him, obviously waiting on his reaction. But he doesn't have one. He just sits there.

Finally, after like twelve-hundred minutes of silence, his dad says, "Excuse me?" in this really low, kind of dangerous voice, but Sam still just sits there, staring at the floor.

He doesn't have anything to say.

Brittany and Santana both seem to decide that he needs to talk to his parents alone, so they grab Stevie and say they're going to get pizza. He half-expects his parents to forbid it, but apparently, for now at least, killing his brother isn't the first thing on their minds. Killing Sam apparently trumps that.

The whole place feels really empty and quiet once the door shuts behind him, and he kind of feels like he's fourteen again or something, which is just dumb because he's a grownup and this is his apartment where he pays the bills and has his name on the lease. He's not a little kid, so it's kind of stupid how nervous he is right now facing his parents. They can't do anything, and that's what he keeps telling himself when he looks at them.

"Just tell me that isn't true." His mom's all quiet, and she's just kind of staring at him, like waiting for him to deny it so she can keep on living with that lie he's been so careful to keep up with for years. "Please."

He could do it. He could tell them it's not true, and they'd probably believe him, mostly out of desperation or something, but he's sick of lying. It's exhausting, and he's been doing it for so long that it literally feels like his whole life is a lie. It kind of is, and he's just _tired._

So he just holds his hands up and kind of shrugs because what the hell. It doesn't even matter now.

He can look at his mom's face and knows he's like literally breaking her heart. His first instinct is to say or do something to make it better, but he realizes a second later that there's not really a whole lot that can make that happen right now. It's out there- he can't take it back.

"Why would you _ever _think that's okay?" His dad sounds disgusted, too, and Sam feels so defeated that he can barely even offer up a defense.

"I make good money."

"It's _disgusting!" _

He doesn't know what to say. Part of him thinks he should just let his parents go at him, yell or say whatever they need to say, and then move on. They probably aren't going to listen to logic anyway, and if they're already dead-set on thinking he's some kind of whore or something, he's probably not going to change their minds.

"What is _wrong _with you?" His dad's shaking his head like he literally can't wrap his head around any of this, and Sam's not really that shocked because he didn't ever assume that his parents _would _be able to understand it. "You just…" It's like he can't even get words out that make sense or something. "You're living in… in whatever _this _is." He waves his hands around, and Sam kind of wants to be a smartass and tell him it's an apartment even though he knows he's totally referring to the people he's living with, not the actual place. "And now you're a _stripper?!" _

"I've been a stripper for a long time." He doesn't know why he says it, but he can't think of one other thing to say, so it just comes out. His dad spit the word out like it was some kind of horrible cuss word or something, so Sam's not really too confident that anything he says is going to make it better anyway.

"I don't even know who you are anymore." He feels bad because even though his dad is looking at him like some piece of shit he scrapes off the bottom of his shoe, Sam knows that he's really upset and probably like _hurt _over all this. "This isn't who we raised!"

"I make good money!" It's honestly the best defense that he has. "I'm not hurting anyone."

"It's sick." His mom breaks in and finally speaks up, and she sounds _mad- _not just confused and hurt like his dad, but actually _angry. _

"It's not _sick." _Sam knows there's no point in arguing with her, but he can't help himself. "I'm just… It's just a _job."_

"You're selling your _body!"_

"I don't have anything else to sell!"

And then she must like just snap or something because she actually slaps him. _Hard. _Right across the face. And all he does is just stand there because it literally shocks him into silence.

His mom looks kind of shocked, too, which is totally dumb because she's the one who did it. He doesn't look at his dad, so he doesn't know what that reaction is, but he also doesn't care. His cheek is really stinging, but it's really stupid that he actually feels like crying over it. Like he can actually feel tears behind his eyes, and if he wasn't so mad, he might really let them fall. But right now he's so pissed that he'll be damned if he starts crying. He's pissed at his mom for hitting him. He's pissed at his dad for letting her. He's pissed at both of them for being so hateful and close-minded and for not being able to just accept him like he always heard parents were supposed to do unconditionally. He's just really, really pissed, and it only gets worse when his mom opens her mouth like she's about to apologize or something.

"Sam, I… I'm-"

"Do you know why I started this in the first place?!" He doesn't want to hear her apology, and something in him snaps and he just starts yelling without even thinking about it. "It was because somebody had to pay the fucking bills when I was sixteen years old! Because neither one of you could even make sure the lights stayed on month to month!"

He looks at him both. They're both just kind of staring at him in shock as the words sink in. He doesn't even care how it makes them feel right now. He's just so _mad._

"You think this is what I _wanted _to do?! Like when I was a little kid, I sat around and thought about how much I wanted to be a _stripper? _The only reason I ever started this was because it was the easiest way to make money and make sure that we didn't get kicked out of another house!"

"You were not doing this when you were sixteen." His dad's voice is super quiet and like eerily even, and Sam knows it's just because he's trying to convince himself it's not true or something. But too fucking bad for him because it's all true.

"Yes, I was! But y'all didn't want to wake up and realize that Dairy Queen doesn't pay in one dollar bills!"

He's doing it on purpose now. He _wants _to hurt them. It's sick, but it feels ridiculously good to watch their faces right now. Like he's getting some kind of sick pleasure from it, and he doesn't want to stop and think about what kind of person that makes him. He's so mad, and it's just like years of resentment he didn't even know he had are just flooding out. And it's awful because it feels _good. _

"Go ahead and judge me!" he snaps at them, even though they both just look kind of devastated now. "I know I'm just a whore. And I'm going to hell because that's where whores go, right?"

"Sam."

He doesn't care what they have to say. He's not even sure which one says his name, but he doesn't care. It literally doesn't matter to him anymore because he's so sick of lying, so sick of hiding everything about his life. And if he stops now, he's going to have to seriously acknowledge why his stomach is hurting so bad and deal with how horrible he feels inside.

"This is all I know how to do! I'm not _good _at anything else! This is all I know! And I'm not ashamed of it!"

"_Sam."_

"So go ahead and tell me again how I'm going to hell! I'm selling my body, right? Well, it's true, so everyone, including God, must hate me now!" His head is spinning, and his mouth feels really dry. He kind of feels like he might throw up, but he just keeps on going. "But yeah, like this was what I always wanted to do or something! Do you know how I lost my virginity?!"

"Please stop." And it's his mom who says it- she looks sick herself. He tries really hard to feel bad enough to obey her, but there's still that little part of him that just wants to twist the knife. It's awful, but he can't stop himself.

"This woman, she was like thirty-five or something. At her own freaking divorce party. She gave me two-hundred and fifty bucks, and I lied and told her I was twenty-one, and she acted like she didn't know it was a lie. And that's how it happened. And it was pretty gross and totally meaningless, but Stevie got to go on that class trip to Louisville, and I finally got some sneakers that didn't have holes in the bottom. Oh, and I think we even got the water bill paid on time that month."

He cuts himself off because he realizes all the fight's gone from his voice. As fast as it came, it's just like _gone, _and he feels really defeated, like he should literally just give up. He hates talking about that stuff. What he does now is his own choice, but when he was a kid, he didn't feel like he _had _a choice. He needed to make sure his family was okay, and he did what he honestly thought was right back then. He shouldn't have had to. He shouldn't have had so much pressure, _too _much pressure, when he was barely old enough to drive. And he's tried for a long time not to hold any kind of grudge about it, but he obviously failed or something. Because he just let everything out, and he feels so much worse than before.

His mom's crying, like genuinely upset. He knows he's just hurt her in like the worst possible way, and even though he tries really hard not to care, he feels horrible. His dad's not saying anything, either, and everything Sam said is just like hanging in the air around them. He's pretty positive he's never felt worse about anything in his entire life.

"I'm sorry…" He mumbles it and looks down at the floor because he's suddenly right back to feeling like a little kid again. It's dumb because he's an adult, but he still feels really nervous.

But then his mom grabs him and hugs him, and he's just really kind of shocked that she's not slapping him again, now that he's just admitted to prostituting off his damn _virginity. _But she's just crying and hugging him and apologizing over and over in his ear. He's not even sure what the apologies are for, but it doesn't matter. Part of him hates how young he feels like this, but another part of him just loves how good it feels. There's never been a time in his life when he didn't want his mom's hugs, and even though this is a really different kind of hug, it still makes him feel like everything might actually be okay.

He can't really imagine how they're ever going to get past this, but maybe they can.

…

His parents and brother leave later that night.

They have to get back to Stacy, and Sam can't really blame them for not wanting to leave her for too long. Stevie's probably going to be grounded for months after this, and Sam can't really feel too sorry for him. He's not actually _mad _at him for throwing him under the bus, but this whole Chicago thing was just really stupid to begin with. He deserves to be grounded_, _probably for longer than will actually happen, but whatever. It's kind of hard to feel sympathy for him after a stunt like that.

Sam actually talked to his parents that afternoon, like a long, real talk. He was finally honest with them- told them everything and put it all out there. They weren't happy, and he knew they wouldn't be. His mom, even though she was all upset and apologetic, told him it wasn't fair for him to ask them to support this kind of situation. He told them he wasn't asking for support- just for acceptance. And he told them that he really wanted to be able to share all the baby stuff with them and that he just needed them to accept him and his whole situation because he wanted them to go through all this stuff with him.

They came around. Kind of.

He's still not sure they're a hundred percent behind him, but he knows they're not going to just turn their backs, either. They'll try, which is really all he can ask for. He can't honestly expect them to just immediately be down with the fact that he's in some kind of weird plural relationship and takes his clothes off for a living. He had to swear to them that he wasn't having sex with people for money anymore- that it happened when he was a kid, but that he doesn't do it at all now. It's the truth, too. He has a line he won't cross, and while that doesn't make the whole thing totally kosher with his parents, it at least helps a little.

Honestly, he's just really glad they know everything. He never realized how exhausting lying was til he stopped doing it. He probably should have never lied in the first place, but he didn't know what else to do. He's always hated making people unhappy, and he's always had this really massive guilt complex. He just didn't want to let his parents down, so lying and keeping the peace seemed easier than telling the truth and dealing with the consequences. But then he had to _keep _lying, and then he had to tell _more _lies to keep up with his old ones. And soon, like everything in his life was a lie.

So he's just really glad it's not anymore.

His parents may not love his lifestyle, but they love him. He knows they do. That's all he wanted anyway, just to make sure that they would still love him no matter what. Part of him wishes he could go back to that morning and take back the stuff he yelled at them because he knows he hurt them like really badly, but he's also kind of glad that all came out, too, because he didn't even realize he was suppressing all that until he just snapped. If he'd kept it inside for much longer, it could have been even worse.

But everything's out there now, one way or another.

…

…

…

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one. Hopefully the next one won't take as long. There's one more part, so stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4

**SCATTERED**

**Part 4**

…

Santana starts gaining weight, and it's not fun for anybody.

She starts crying one morning because her jeans won't button, and Sam makes the mistake of telling her to "just buy new jeans." That's apparently a very wrong thing to say or something because she goes crazy on him and tells him that he's an asshole, a bastard, and a "fucking shitfuck assface" all in one breath.

So after that, he stops suggesting new clothes.

Every time she goes to the doctor, she comes out more and more depressed because apparently gaining any kind of weight is terrible, despite the fact that she's like literally growing a human being inside of her. He still likes going with her, though, even though she's always pissed off at the scale. But it's cool because they always get to hear the baby's heart, and the next ultrasound they get actually looks like more than just a dot. He still can't tell what's supposed to be a head and a butt and all that, but at least there's some shape to it, which means the baby's growing.

Santana's hormones are through the roof, though, and she is snappier than ever. She also ends up crying at a laundry detergent commercial, which is maybe the weirdest thing ever, but okay. But basically, all of this just gives her an excuse to be even bitchier than usual. He doesn't complain, though, because he's read a bunch of stuff on the Internet, and it all says all of this is like totally normal. So he just goes with it because like it or not, she's kind of the mother of his child, so he pretty much just has to deal with it.

It's starting to get really exciting, though, because now that he's semi-made up with his family, he can start sending them ultrasound pictures and updates just like Santana and Brittany get to do. His parents aren't a hundred percent on board with this whole thing yet, but he can tell they're starting to get excited by the prospect of being grandparents. He figured his mom might freak out about being too young to be a grandmother, but she's obviously appeasing herself with the fact that she still has a fourteen year old, which is apparently young enough to make up for the fact that she's going to have a grandchild in a matter of months.

But whatever, Sam's just thankful that he can finally start sharing all this stuff with his family because it makes everything seem even better.

…

They start talking about other stuff, like where they're supposed to fit a crib and all kinds of new baby stuff.

They've lived in the same two bedroom apartment ever since they got to Chicago. It's not very big at all, and it's not exactly the greatest neighborhood in the world, but it's cheap enough, and they're basically just used to it. Moving is a pain in the butt, and there's never been something bad enough happen to make moving really seem worth it. But now they're having a baby, and unless they want to put a curtain up in the living room and make a nursery out of it, they kind of need a bigger space.

All three of them spend time looking at new apartments and rental houses and stuff. Ideally, they'd all like to be able to buy a house, but that's just not happening. Sam's the only one with a steady job, but it's not like he pulls in a normal 40 hours or anything, so there's no way anybody in their right mind would finance them. So buying is just off the table. It just sucks because even _renting _in Chicago is hella expensive. The only good thing about their current apartment is the price, and Sam realizes that when he starts looking at other places and realizing he's going to have to start forking out a lot more for rent, on top of everything else that's going to get more expensive when there's another person to pay for.

And then he starts freaking out.

Ever since he came clean about the stripping and saw how much it bothers his parents, he's been trying to work out a way in his head to move away from it, but he honestly doesn't see how he _can. _If Santana already had a job, it'd be a different story, but she doesn't. She randomly works a few hours a week doing research, and there's no way anybody's going to hire her while she's pregnant, so there's no point in even looking right now. Brittany's still trying to make a living dancing, but it's getting further and further from the realm of reality, even though nobody really wants to admit that. But regardless, Sam's still the one who has to cover the majority of the bills, and he doesn't know any other job that he could do and make nearly the kind of money he's making right now.

Maybe by the time his kid's old enough to understand what a job is, he'll be doing something better, but for right now, he really can't get out of it.

…

They make it to the second trimester mark, and everybody's doing pretty good.

Santana's still kind of bitchy about gaining weight, but she's starting to get over it. It's still not super obvious that she's pregnant or anything, but she does have this little bump that's actually kind of adorable. Brittany loves it, too, and she spends about an hour a day with her head in Santana's lap talking to the baby. Sam's not bothered by it- he's mostly just glad that those two are apparently over whatever was tripping them up before. There have been plenty of times in the past few years where he would have totally welcomed some kind of split between the girls because it would allow him to be selfish and have Britt all to himself, but this isn't one of those times. They need to be together, and everybody needs to be happy. Everything feels like a whole new ballgame all of a sudden, and he's not sure he could even wish for a Brittany/Santana breakup if he wanted to anymore.

But for right now at least, everything she's pretty good. There's not a whole lot of drama or fighting or anything happening with any of them. Santana's even calmed down some, so even though she's still complaining about some stuff, she's not like yelling at someone every chance she gets or anything.

In a way, he feels like this is the best they've ever been, and he really likes that.

…

Mike's his best friend and has been for awhile.

He lives in Chicago, too, and minus a few of the dudes he knows from work, he's basically one of the few real friends he has here. They've always gotten along pretty well, and now Sam's kind of not sure how he'd even survive if Mike wasn't around. Don't get him wrong, he loves Brittany, and he loves Santana, too, in some roundabout way, but being around girls all the time kind of makes him go crazy sometimes. So it's nice to be able to escape for a little while, and Mike's always the one who helps him with that.

They meet up for drinks on Monday night because it's the only time Mike can do it. He's got shows every other night, and Sam's usually going to work by the time he gets done. So Monday it is, which is cool or whatever- it's less crowded at the bar at least, so that's good. Sam manages to get off work, too, so he doesn't even have anywhere to be, which is exactly how he likes it.

He hasn't actually seen Mike in awhile, like a couple of months actually. They text all the time, but Mike's really busy, and it's kind of hard to catch him, so they have a lot to catch up on. Sam spills all the details about his parents, even tells him about his mom hitting him, which is something he's managed to avoid letting slip in front of Brittany and Santana. He's not sure why really, probably because it's kind of embarrassing, but also because he doesn't want them to feel worse about the situation than they already do. They're happy now that he's kind of made up with his parents or whatever, but they both kind of felt guilty while he was being ignored by his family. So he just didn't want to make them feel bad and just gave them the abridged version of what really went down with his parents. He tells Mike, though, and he's not even really sure why except that he just really wants to talk about it maybe.

"But everything's cool now, right?" Mike's still on his first beer because he's really good at drinking slowly so that he doesn't get drunk. Not that he _never _gets drunk or whatever, but he doesn't do it a lot.

Sam just shrugs. He's already on his second because he personally has zero qualms about getting drunk right now. He hasn't been drunk in awhile, and maybe it's exactly what he needs. "I guess. I mean, they still don't love the whole idea of everything, but it is what it is, I guess."

"So they don't like the whole Brittany and Santana thing, right?"

"They just don't get it, I don't think. It's not something they're used to, so it just seems weird to them."

"Well, maybe you should just try to make them understand. Take the girls home for a visit or something."

Sam shakes his head, though, because that's something that's never going to happen. "My parents would just end up saying something dumb, and then Brittany would get her feelings hurt or Santana would start a fight. It's not worth it."

"Well, it's not cool that they're like judging you or whatever. I mean, you're not a kid. It's your life, and they should be able to accept it."

"It's not that easy."

"You think it was easy trying to convince my dad that being a dancer wasn't throwing my life away? I still did it."

And Sam tries really hard not to roll his eyes, but it doesn't really work. "It's not the same thing. Your dad wanted you to be a doctor so you could make a lot of money and be successful. My parents don't want me to be in this relationship because they literally think it'll send me to hell."

"Are they homophobic or something? I mean, I get that it's maybe weird to some people, but they're kind of overreacting, aren't they?"

Sam just shrugs and downs the last few drops of his beer. He needs another one ASAP. "They just don't get it."

It's hard because nobody else really understands the kind of place he came from. He doesn't want to make himself sound like a redneck or something, but Tennessee's just a lot different- the South in general is just different. It's not the same in Chicago where, yeah, people may think this relationship setup is weird or whatever, but they don't bat an eye when they see two girls kissing or two dudes walking down the street holding hands. But Sam's not from here, and neither are his parents. They're both from Tennessee, and he pretty much spent most of his childhood there, so he knows there's a whole different mindset. He's not from some backwoods little hick town or anything, but even moving to Ohio was a major change because it was way less conservative than what he was used to. It's just different growing up in the Bible Belt. There's just a really specific way of life there- you grow up saying yes, sir and no, ma'am, you do what your parents tell you to do, and you go to church every single Sunday no matter what.

His parents aren't hateful people. They would never purposely look down on somebody or treat somebody different because they were Jewish or Muslim or atheist or whatever, but they _would _whole-heartedly believe that those people were going to hell because they weren't Christians. And it's kind of the same way with gay people. They don't have a problem with gay people, and they would never be disrespectful or anything, but there's nothing in the world that could really convince them that that one stupid verse in Leviticus isn't meant to be taken literally. They just believe what they believe, and that basically comes down to the Bible being the ultimate law.

Sam's not going to lie and say he's always been able to separate it because that's not true. He's had plenty of "Jesus freakouts" over the years, specifically about stuff like homosexuality just because he's had to deal with it so much. Growing up, he didn't know that many gay people or even any that he can actually remember. He's sure that he knew some, but as a kid, it wasn't something that was necessarily brought to his attention or anything. But when he was a teenager, some of his best friends were gay, and while he'd never given a ton of thought to it before, he suddenly had to start thinking about it a lot. His parents always taught him not to judge people, that it wasn't his place, but there's a difference between judging someone outright and internally believing that they are doing something wrong. So while he loved his friends and thought they were some of the best people he knew, he struggled because as a Christian, he'd always been taught to worry about people's afterlives, so he kind of dealt with a lot of stuff internally about it.

And seriously, realizing that everything you've ever been taught your whole life might be a lie is kind of a rough blow to take.

He still considers himself a Christian, and it's still like really, really important to him. He still goes to church on a regular basis and prays every night, but he just doesn't take every word he hears at church or every verse in the Bible so literally. It's just something he had to come to on his own because he didn't really have anybody else around who was going to help him figure that out. He just doesn't believe heaven and hell are so black and white. Nothing is. He can't make himself believe that God banishes people to hell because they were born a certain way or because they happen to believe a different religion. Like is the Dalai Lama really going to burn in hell? Or freaking like _Gandhi? _Really? He just can't make himself believe that.

But plenty of people do believe it. He's sure if he asked his parents, _they'd _believe it. Just because the Bible says so.

So are his parents homophobic? No. They don't hate gay people; they don't even have negative feelings toward them. But do they believe that you're probably going to go to hell for _being _gay? Yes. Do they honestly believe that _he _will go to hell for choosing to participate in this particular relationship with these two women? Probably.

So it's complicated.

It's hard for other people to understand, especially people who don't come from such a conservative Christian home. Brittany's never really been to church on a regular basis, and Santana was born Catholic but never really raised in it. Some of her family's really strict about it, and it's those same family members, specifically her grandmother, who've never been able to accept her since she came out. Both of their parents are way more liberal and accepting of stuff like that than Sam can ever imagine his own parents being. If anything, Mike's kind of the closest thing he's got to relate to on that end because even though his family's not particularly religious, they _are _very conservative, and when they were in high school, Mike was the only other one out of all his friends that was like honestly afraid of his parents because he was the only other one who would actually get in trouble if he did something wrong. Mike put tons of pressure on himself to do everything right and make straight As because if he didn't, his parents would come down on him. Sam never had that same grade pressure (because the only thing he ever made an A in was P.E.), but he knew better than to break rules. If he did something wrong or even if he just skipped his chores or something, chances are, he was going to be grounded. And not grounded like the way some of his other friends were "grounded" where they still did whatever the hell they wanted, whenever they wanted. No, Sam would be grounded for real, like at home with no phone and no privileges and nothing but homework to keep him occupied. So at least Mike can relate on that level- what it's like trying to deal with parents who are totally no-nonsense or whatever.

But he really can't understand all this.

"I just wish that like everyone wouldn't focus so much on what they think we're doing wrong or whatever. Because now we're having a _baby. _And that should kind of outweigh everything else, shouldn't it?"

Mike's fingers dig a little bit at the label on his bottle. "I think they'll come around. At least you're making progress."

Yeah. At least that. He'll take what he can get.

…

He misses a doctor's appointment because he's running a fever, but Brittany and Santana come home practically bouncing.

They like both literally just burst into his room, and at first he thinks something's wrong until Brittany says, "We get to find out if it's a boy or a girl in three weeks!"

And that kind of shocks him because that means they're actually getting up there. If they can already tell what it is… It's literally like this whole thing gets more and more real by the second.

…

He's being lazy in bed and doesn't really want to get up.

Brittany's there, too, and they're watching some random movie on TV, even though he doesn't have a clue what's going on, and he's pretty sure she doesn't, either. But they're just hanging out, which is cool because sometimes lazy is just awesome.

Brittany brings up the obvious, though, and kind of interrupts his doing nothing. "We need to move."

"Yeah."

"Like… soon." She rolls onto her side and looks at him. "We need to do it fast."

"I know."

"Because when the baby gets here, we won't have anywhere to put it."

"I _know." _He's getting irritated, and it obviously comes across in his voice because she just stares at him for a few seconds.

"Why are you being mean?"

He sighs and scratches behind his ear. "I'm not being mean. I just don't know how we're gonna afford everything."

Brittany says something about them always making it, but he kind of tunes her out because there's a not-so-new thought running through his head, and all he can think is…

Maybe they didn't really plan this through well enough.

...

He will never get used to knowing that his girlfriend is having sex with somebody else in the next room over.

He accepts it- what else can he do? But he doesn't like it, and it never really gets any easier. But it's a lot easier to live in oblivion and peace when he doesn't have to actually _know _what's going on, like when he can't actually _hear _it happening. The walls are thin- that's definitely not a new development. This is something they've all been super well aware of for a long time, but that doesn't make it suck any less.

So he just turns up his TV and tries to pretend like he can't hear everything that's going on in the next room over.

It makes him think, though, about how potentially totally confused their kid might be. Like what will the kid even call them? He'll be Daddy, obviously, but what happens when there's two mommies? He randomly thinks about Rachel and her two dads, and he realizes he has no idea what she ever called them. He never really thought about it before, but now it just hits him. Not to mention, like how are they going to explain the situation and why one mommy goes between the other mommy and daddy? Like seriously, that's going to be confusing. Especially for a kid.

They need to seriously sit down and talk this stuff out.

…

"There's the head. And the butt. And see that?" The ultrasound tech points to something on the screen, and all three of them lean closer to see. "That's your little boy."

She smiles at them, and they're all just kind of stunned for a couple of seconds as the words hang around them. Little boy. It's a boy. They're having a _boy._

It's like it hits them all at the same time, and they all break into identical smiles. None of them have come right out and said what they wanted, but Sam kind of wanted a boy deep down, even though he was too scared to say it out loud. A girl would have been fine, too, but a boy is awesome because he's already planning all the cool stuff he's going to show him and teach him.

"Are you sure it's a boy?" It's Brittany who asks, and the tech just nods.

"He's bending over, let's see if we can get him to roll over…" She moves the wand around Santana's stomach and kind of presses down in certain spots. Nothing really happens, but then they see the screen start to change while the baby actually moves, and it's like the coolest thing ever. "Oops, see." She points to the screen again, and it's really obvious now. "Definitely a boy."

"Oh, wow."

"Look at his face." Sam moves in closer because it's crazy that you can actually kind of see where the face is, even though it's obviously not super clear.

"Yep," the tech points to the screen some more. "There's his eyes and his nose and his mouth."

"Oh, my god, can you tell if his mouth is normal sized?" Santana actually sits halfway up to see for herself, and Sam bites down on his back teeth to keep from saying the first thing that pops into his head, which is not exactly nice.

Anyway, truth be told, he's been waiting on that one for awhile.

…

The next couple of months are just spent getting ready for the baby and trying to prepare themselves for everything that's going to change.

They end up moving into a three bedroom apartment in an only slightly nicer part of town, but the rent is almost $500 more expensive. That's a lot. It's especially a lot considering the fact that they have all these extra expenses, not to mention all the doctor bills that are starting to float in. Having a baby isn't cheap, and they're all starting to realize that really fast.

Brittany gets a day job working at this baby store, and even though it doesn't pay a lot or anything, it's still extra money coming in. Plus, she gets a discount on stuff, so that really helps a lot. Sam starts working seven nights a week instead of his usual five, and Santana starts a little side business writing papers for people she knows who are still in law school. They're still not pulling in a ton of money, but it's more than before. And they definitely need it. They're just all kind of exhausted…

All Sam wants to do when he gets home from work is just fall into bed and sleep til like midday. He's always been kind of good about still getting up at a decent hour despite the fact that he doesn't go to bed til late, but now that he literally doesn't have a break or a day off ever, he just wants to sleep like all the time. He doesn't wake up until at least noon on most days, and Brittany's always already gone to work by that time. If she doesn't have any dance classes or anything happening at night, he might get to see her for a couple of hours after she gets home before he has to go to work, but it's definitely not a lot. Santana's at home a lot more, so he still sees her pretty regularly, but she's not doing a lot to help him in the whole not-being-lazy department. For one, she eats like a ton of junk food now, which is probably not good for her or the baby, but he's not going to point that out. So it makes it really hard not to just lay down on the couch with her and eat chips and watch Spanish soap operas all day. It sounds and looks super tempting, but he can't really be lazy like that or let his body go because their main source of income kind of depends on his abs. So he has to resist the Cheetos and still has to spend a pretty good part of the day at the gym because the last thing they need right now is him to lose his tips or his job altogether because he'd rather eat Little Debbies and stay at home to see if Francesca finds out that Carlos is cheating on her with Victoria.

So he forces his ass into gear and makes himself do everything he doesn't really want to do because that's what his family needs.

He starts thinking like that- like in terms of a _family. _He's thought it before, but now that there's a baby in the mix- _his _baby- it really starts sinking in. Him and Brittany and Santana and now their son- that's an actual, albeit super nontraditional, nuclear family or whatever they called it in his high school sociology class. It makes things a lot different when he starts thinking beyond him and his girlfriend and his girlfriend's girlfriend and starts thinking more about him and his girlfriend and his girlfriend's girlfriend and their _kid. _That's a lot of responsibility, and he takes that stuff really seriously.

The thought of having his own child feels even more intimidating than all the responsibility he's felt over the years about his siblings. This feels like a whole new ballgame. It's serious, and the closer it gets to actually happening, the more he starts freaking out.

…

He gets some rare alone time with Britt one day when she's off work and Santana's at the law firm.

He loves waking up and seeing her there because he doesn't see it a lot anymore. She usually sleeps with Santana because they're both usually already in bed by the time he gets home. So waking up and actually having her there with him is kind of awesome. He checks the time and sees that it's 11:29, so he's a little surprised that she's still asleep. She must have gotten in bed with him some time after he fell asleep last night or maybe even after Santana left this morning, but she's still sleeping away, despite the fact that it's almost noon.

He rolls over so that he can run his hand over her hip. She curls into him a little bit, probably unconsciously or something. He likes how warm her skin is under his hand, and he likes the way her eyelids flutter a little bit when he uses his index finger to trace lines across the skin there. And he especially likes when she eventually opens her eyes and smiles at him.

"Hi."

"Hey." She wrinkles her nose a little bit and says, "What time is it?"

"11:30. You slept late."

"I like sleeping beside you."

She cuddles in closer to him, and he's very happy when she kisses him. He wants to do like a whole lot more than kissing, and he seriously hopes she doesn't have any plans because this isn't something that happens a lot, and he kind of wants to take advantage of it. He doesn't know about _her _sex life, but his is seriously lacking, and that's not something he's exactly used to.

She seems like she's on the same page, though, when she kind of rolls halfway on top of him and starts kissing him a little more intently. He likes it. She is seriously the hottest thing he's ever seen in his life, so he's never going to complain when her body is basically sprawled on top of him. He's especially not going to complain right now when he's barely even seen her in a week.

He wonders if that's going to become even worse after the baby's born.

…

The third trimester hits, and they're officially in the homestretch.

They've started on the nursery- there's a crib and a dresser and a changing table. The crib has some bedding that hasn't actually been added yet. That's kind of it, though. Santana says not to worry about it because they'll get everything else during the baby shower, but Sam's not too sure about that. He doesn't have a _ton _of experience with showers or whatever, but he does remember when his mom had his brother and his sister. She never got much of anything at her showers except a whole bunch of clothes. Maybe she just had cheap friends or something, but Sam can't possibly imagine that they could be cheaper than anybody who might come to Santana's shower…

The good thing, though, is that Santana tells them that grandparents always buy the most expensive stuff anyway. And they have three sets of grandparents, so they're already ahead of the game.

They start arguing over stuff like colors for the nursery and what sort of outfit the baby should come home in, but the biggest argument comes about baby names. Nobody can agree on anything at all, and Sam's honestly kind of surprised at how much of an opinion he actually has on the matter. It's not something he's ever really thought about before, but now that he's actually going to have a son, there's no way in hell he's letting him be named something like Phineas or Wilbur- not that either of those names are actually brought up, but there's a whole bunch of horrible stupid ones being thrown around.

He's not sure they're ever all three going to agree on something, though. If he and Santana agree on something, Brittany hates it. If Brittany and Santana agree on something, _he _hates it. It's really starting to get annoying.

He's beginning to think their kid is just going to be called Baby Boy Evans forever.

He mentions this in frustration, but even _that_ turns out to be a mistake.

"Who the _hell _said his last name is Evans?!"

,,,

They get some strange looks when they go to birthing class.

Santana introduces Brittany as her girlfriend and Sam as the father. That seems to make sense to people, and the strange looks disappear for the most part. Sam's kind of surprised that it doesn't raise more questions than answers, but leaving out the part about Brittany also being _his _girlfriend probably helps. He's still a little surprised that people don't find it so weird, though. Whenever new people help them at the doctor's office, they always get a bunch of weird looks, so he's basically just come to expect it.

They go every Thursday night, and it's not all that terrible. The people are actually pretty nice, and while he could totally do without the more graphic end of the classes, the actual coaching part isn't awful. Santana wants Brittany to be her main coach, and he's not all that shocked. It's cool, though. It basically just means that he gets to sit around and just randomly interject little helps here and there. He's kind of surprised at how into it Brittany is, though. He's pretty sure he's never seen her this interested in learning anything that didn't directly involve some kind of choreography. But maybe that's what she's doing- maybe she's choreographing the birth in her head or something. He really wouldn't be surprised.

Being a third wheel in a birthing pair kind of makes him the default stand-in if somebody needs a partner, though. He steps in to help this lady named Amy one night because her husband apparently has a stomach virus and can't make it to class. He doesn't know Amy all that well, but they've talked a little bit. She seems pretty nice and definitely grateful when he offers to help for the night. They talk a little more while they're getting set up, and going through the coaching motions with her is actually kind of fun. She's super friendly, and he doesn't feel weird at all.

Then she asks him if he's single, and it kind of throws him for a loop a little bit. He doesn't really want to blow their cover when people are treating them so normally for once, so he doesn't like point across the room and say, "See that blonde in the pink shirt? That's my girlfriend." Instead, he just says, "No, I'm with somebody."

Amy kind of makes a frowny face and then shrugs a second later. It weirds him out for a second because he almost feels like she's hitting on him. She's married and pregnant, so that's definitely not okay…

But then she says, "My brother just broke up with his boyfriend, and I keep trying to find people to set him up with. You're exactly his type."

And okay. What?

"Umm…" Sam doesn't even know what to say. It's not like it's the first time somebody's assumed he was gay, but it's been awhile. Or at least he guesses it's been awhile- it's been awhile since somebody actually _said_ something about it. He doesn't know how to respond, so he just goes with, "I'm not gay," because it's to the point and should answer basically all other questions.

Amy seems surprised, though. "Oh. Sorry, I just thought…" He looks at her because he doesn't know what she _just thought. _"I just thought you were like the donor dad or something."

So now it makes total sense why nobody's giving them overly weird looks. They think Santana and Brittany are this cute little lesbian couple, and he's their gay bestie who provided the goods so that they could have a family. He really shouldn't even be shocked.

"No…" He wants to just tell the truth, but in all honesty, hiding it in here has actually been kind of a blessing. Still, he doesn't want to outright lie about it or anything. "Santana and I live together. I have a girlfriend."

"And she's cool with all this?" Amy looks a little surprised and now definitely more interested. "She must be really secure or something. I'm not sure I could handle my husband fathering somebody else's child."

"She and Santana are really close."

Understatement of the century.

"Oh. Well, that's really cool then." Amy smiles at him. "I think that's great!"

He has a feeling she'd be a tad more judgmental if he told her just how _close _his girlfriend really is with Santana.

…

Sam is wrong- they actually get a _ton _of shit for the baby shower.

Mike's wife throws it, and Caroline's like the classiest of the classy, so it's super nice, everything looks really rich. Mike and Caroline live in this really fancy apartment complex, and she rents out their all-purpose room or whatever and kind of transforms it into this kickass kind of baby shower wonderland. Obviously it's Sam's kid, but everybody tells him showers are just for women, so he helps with the set-up, and then he goes back to Mike's apartment, and they play video games for the next two and a half hours until Caroline calls and tells them that everything's finished.

When they first walk back into the room, it's kind of overwhelming. There's so much _stuff. _He has no idea how they're even going to get it all home, much less where they're going to put it when they get it there. For the most part, the people have cleared out. There are really just a few still hanging around. Brittany runs up to him as soon he gets there and grabs his hand to drag him over to her mom who is with an older lady he's never seen.

"Sam, this is Nana. Nana, this is Sam." The older lady smiles at him, and he assumes this is Brittany's mom's mom. He met her dad's mom a few times, but she died last year. He's never met this Nana before, so he smiles back and tries not to be awkward. He kind of hates meeting new people, though.

He's thankful for the excuse to go talk to his own family, though, even though he already saw them when they got here this morning. His mom and sister are the only ones who came. Apparently his own grandmother isn't as open to the idea as Brittany's because she completely ignored the invitation they sent her. He kind of wants to ask his mom about it, but he doesn't really want to open that can of worms.

His sister's in eighth grade and growing up way too fast, but she still loves him, so he's not surprised when she immediately goes to hug him and wraps both arms around him with her face in his chest. She stays like that, so he hugs her back and lets his chin rest on the top of her head. He hopes she doesn't get any taller than this because she's the perfect chin rest height, and any taller is going to make it awkward. So hopefully she's done growing.

He looks over her head at his mom and then glances across the room to where Santana's talking to her mom and like ten women he's never seen before in his life. "Who are all those people?"

"Santana's aunts." His mom looks over there, too, and then back at him. "She apparently has about a hundred. And obviously some pretty rich ones, too."

He assumes she's talking about the presents, which are all piled up against one wall. He glances at them and literally has no idea what half of the stuff is or what they're going to do with it.

Stacy leans her head back and looks up at him. "Yeah, one of them gave her a thousand dollar gift card to Babies R Us."

"Wow." He can't imagine ever just having a thousand dollars to throw away like that, but he's super grateful because it will definitely help out. Unless Santana wastes it and goes and just buys a bunch of designer baby clothes or something, but hopefully she won't.

"Less than a month now." His mom sounds kind of worried herself. "Are you ready?"

He's pretty sure he's never going to be ready, but he doesn't tell her that.

…

He works a private party one night and doesn't get home until almost four in the morning.

There are upsides and downsides to the private parties. The upside is obviously the money because you get an upfront premium plus tips. The downside is that as much as you get groped during a normal night at the club, you basically get literally molested during parties. He's used to it for the most part, but he's not sure he's ever going to just be totally at ease with a bunch of strange women touching every part of him like they own him or something. And at bachelorette parties, there's always that one crazy bridesmaid who's way too into it and wants to get rough and like spank him or something. It's pretty exhausting.

He goes home with total plans to just fall straight into bed and sleep til late afternoon, but when he gets home, Santana's awake and in the kitchen making a sandwich. He's surprised to see her up, but he's not surprised that she's apparently hungry. She can't even seem to _get_ full these days, and he knows she's just about over this whole pregnancy thing. He can't really blame her- he's kind of over it, too, and he doesn't even have to go through it.

She's been semi-nice to him lately, probably because she knows he's trying to do as much as he can. She's not a _total _bitch, so she does occasionally recognize effort. She just looks at him when he walks in and drops his bag on the table.

"You look like shit."

He blinks at her and could probably say something back, but what would be the point? She's probably just telling the truth. He's tired and sweaty and sticky, and he's probably got more than a couple of bruises and scratches. He probably _does _look like shit. So he ignores that and goes over to the counter where she's standing. "What are you making?"

"Peanut butter and salami."

He almost gags, but he grabs the bread and the PB knife when she's done with it. He can do without the salami, but peanut butter sounds kind of delicious right now. He's been hungry ever since the bride-to-be licked whipped cream from his belly button.

"I need your son to hurry the hell up, FYI," she tells him around a mouthful of disgustingness. "He's sitting like right on my bladder, and it's annoying as shit."

"He can probably hear you cussing right now."

Santana just shrugs. "He's gonna hear it soon enough."

She's got a point. He goes to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water. He offers her one, but she shakes her head and says she wants chocolate milk, so he grabs that, too. "Have you been asleep?"

She rolls her eyes and takes the glass he passes her. "For like thirty minutes maybe. Peewee decided to play soccer with my intestines, so I had to get up."

"Well, just a couple more weeks."

"A couple weeks too many."

They go to the living room, and he sits down on the couch. He's a little surprised when Santana sits down right beside him and basically like lays back against him so she can stretch her legs out. He can smell the salami, and it doesn't smell awesome, but he doesn't say anything. He just finishes his own sandwich while she finishes hers, and then he puts her napkin on the end table so she doesn't have to move. He knows it's hard for her to find spots and positions that are actually comfortable, so he's not going to make her move.

"I can't believe it's almost here. It's flown by super fast."

"Maybe for you." Santana rolls her eyes and leans her head back against his shoulder. He moves his arm to give her a better angle and lets his fingers kind of tap against her belly. She's made a huge deal about how he and Brittany are the only ones allowed to touch her stomach. It hasn't really worked because everyone wants to touch it all the time, and they usually don't bother asking permission. "I'll be glad when it's over."

"Yeah, but then we're going to have a _baby…"_

"And you can be the one getting up in the middle of the night when he decides to be a little butthead." She thumps her own stomach but doesn't raise her head. "He literally hasn't stopped moving for an hour."

"Maybe he doesn't like salami and peanut butter…" Sam feels a little kick against his hand right on cue.

"It's going to be crazy, isn't it?"

He thinks that's probably an understatement. "But it'll be cool. We'll have something that's like… all of ours."

Santana doesn't say anything for a few moments, but then she sits up and looks back at him. "I know what his name is."

…

Pierce Lopez-Evans is born at 2:37 PM.

After eleven hours of labor, he comes screaming into the world with lungs he probably most definitely inherited from Santana. Sam freezes for a second until the doctor's handing him a really messy little screamer wrapped up in a white blanket. It's crazy, though. He literally feels like his heart stops beating or something.

Brittany comes running around from the other side of the bed and comes up right beside him so she can see. She lets out this noise that kind of confuses him, but he assumes it's a good thing because she kind of looks like she's going to burst from happiness or something.

"Oh, my god…"

"Let me see!" Santana's apparently over all the pain or something because she's doing her best to sit up and demanding to see the baby she just spent all day pushing out.

Sam hands the baby over, careful to watch the head and all that stuff he knows you're supposed to do with tiny babies. He lays him down on Santana's chest, so she can hold him without moving too much. He's still covered in all kinds of goo, but it doesn't even seem gross in the least.

"He's so _little…" _And Santana's speaking in some kind of voice he's never heard from her before, but he definitely gets it. It's like all of a sudden, everything seems different, so it's not surprising that even voices are changing.

"He's perfect." Brittany's squats down and runs a finger over his nose. Sam can't really do anything but stare.

The nurse takes the baby back pretty quickly and cleans him up and weighs him and all that stuff. He's just gone for a couple of minutes, but it feels like forever. When she wheels him back in in his little bed, he's wearing a onesie and is wrapped up in a new blue blanket. He's got a hat on, and he's much cleaner than when he left. She lifts him out and hands him back to Sam while the doctor finishes up with Santana.

Baby Pierce is 7 lbs, 9 oz and 20 ½ inches long according to the card on his bed. Brittany wants to hold him, so Sam passes him over, and together, they count his toes and fingers and make sure everything seems normal on him. Sam pushes his hat back a little, and there's like a whole headful of black hair underneath it. He's not crying anymore. He's just sleeping and puffing out tiny little breaths that seem like the most amazing thing in the world right at the moment.

When Santana's finally cleaned up (and seriously, _gross)_, they all go over to the bed, so she can hold Pierce again. She seems as mesmerized as Sam and Brittany are, and she does exactly the same thing- looks at his hands and feet and then checks out his hair. "He's so cute…"

He is _really _cute. And also perfect.

It's like suddenly every single thing in the world makes sense. He's never felt anything like this before, and he's pretty sure he's never loved Brittany _or _Santana more than he does right at that second. Like seriously, this is his family, and he _loves_ them.

He almost changes his mind about Santana a second later, though. Almost.

"Thank god his mouth is normal…"

He'll let it slide for now. Besides, he won't tell her that his lips didn't start standing out until sometime around his first birthday.

He'll let that one be a surprise.

…

…

…

A/N: The end! Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. And for those people who have sent me rude messages, well, I'm sure you're reading this, so I guess that says it all.


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